LS bypoll: JD(S) candidate alleges irregularity in Bangalore Rural

On the eve of counting of votes for the by-elections to two seats of Lok Sabha, JD (S) candidate from Bangalore rural Anitha Kumaraswamy petitioned to the Election Commission to hold back counting of votes.

She alleged that illegal voting has been done in Kanakapura, which falls under the limits of Bangalore Rural. Hence, re-polling should be conducted. Also, action should be taken against the assistant returning officer and Kankapura tahasildar as they were responsible for the illegality, she said.

On the day of the voting, the officers on duty had announced that the voting ratio in Kanakapura Assembly segment was 66.67 per cent, with 1,40,674 voters exercising their franchise.

But the next day, the officers submitted to the Election Commission that the voting percentage was 73.29. This means that about 13,690 votes had been shown as additional votes, she pointed out, and alleged that there seem to be irregularities in voting.

Chief Electoral Officer Anil Kumar Jha said that the Ramanagar deputy commissioner (DC) has been directed to give a detailed reply in this regard.

In turn, Ramangar DC V Srirama Reddy has issued notices to Assistant Returning Officer M V Venkatesh and tahasildar Dakashayini, as to why proper details regarding polling were not given.

Of the eight Assembly constituencies under Bangalore Rural, Kanakapura has registered the highest voting ratio of 73.29 per cent. It is said that officials have given some technical reasons for not providing the actual percentage of voting on the polling day. But it was rectified the following day.

Counting time

Counting of votes for the by-elections to the Lok Sabha seats of Mandya and Bangalore Rural seats are scheduled to start on Saturday from 8 am.

The office of the chief electoral officer is expects the counting of votes to be completed by 1 pm in both constituencies. Counting of votes of all eight assembly segments would be conducted in the government autonomous college in Mandya town, while in Ramnagar town, it will be in the government engineering college.

Prominent candidates in the fray are actor Ramya and D K Suresh of the Congress and C S Puttaraju and Anitha Kumaraswamy of the JD-S. As many as 22 candidates had contested the elections. There was lukewarm response from voters in both Bangalore Rural as well as Mandya as compared to the 2009 LS election.

The BJP had not fielded candidates, but had supported the JD-S candidates. The Karnataka Janata Paksha too did not field candidates.

The elections have become a prestige issue for both the ruling Congress, headed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, and the prime opposition JD-S. For Siddaramaiah, this is the first election he is fighting after coming to power three months ago. For the JD-S, retaining both seats has become a major challenge as the Congress has challenged it in its own domain — the Vokkaliga belt.

Congress MLA and former minister D K Shivakumar has not been able to convince the high command as to why he should be made a minister despite facing certain cases in court. In case his brother D K Suresh wins the Bangalore Rural seat, Shivakumar’s bargaining capacity will increase.

In Mandya, Congress leaders put aside their differences and converged on a single platform to campaign for Ramya.