JOIN USPolling will be held between 7 am and 6 pm
A total of 14 candidates are testing their electoral fortunes for Dakshina Kannada Lok Sabha constituency on Thursday. The polling will be held from 7 am to 6 pm.
The candidates who are in fray are Nalin Kumar Kateel (BJP), Janardhan Poojary (Cong), M R Vasudeva (AAP), K Yadav Shetty (CPM), Moose Kunhi alias Abdul Karim (BSP), Supreet Kumar Poojary (HJP), Haneef Khan Kodaje (SDPI), Anand Gatty, K Kushala Bellare, Deepak Rajesh Coelho, Maxim Pinto, Sudatta Jain Shirthadi, Subramanya Gowda K and K N Somashekhar (Independents). The counting will be held on May 16.
Addressing a press meet, DC A B Kbrahim said that the district administration is all set to conduct free and fair elections. Polling officials and EVMs have already been dispatched to the respective polling stations in the district.
The district administration as a part of Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) had conducted series of activities to increase the polling ercentage in the district.
Voters casting vote can take their cell phones to the polling stations but they should not use them. Voters should not receive calls or make calls inside the polling stations or on its premises.
Food facility
Food for polling officials has been arranged at each polling booths. Mid-day meal cooks have been entrsuted with the responsibility to supply food for the staff. Basic infrastructure facilities including ramp, drinking water, toilet, furnitures and electricity has been arranged in all the booths.
Feedback
The DC said that the district administration has made arrangements to collect feedback from the presiding officers of each polling booth on their perspective of election process. The feedback will include on training imparted, EVM demonstration, facilities in the booth including transportation, food, vehicular arrangement and so on.
The DC said that there are 29 model polling booths in the district. This includes Moodbidri—3, Mangalore North —5, Mangalore South—2, Mangalore—2, Bantwal—10, Puttur — 32 amd Sullia—3.
Transportation
Keeping the interest of the voters and to allow them to exercise their franchise, transport facility has been arranged at various places to take them to the polling booths.
The voters will have to pay minimum for the dropping facility. In fact, jeep facilities have been arranged at Banjarumale, one of the remotest polling booths in the district.
In a separate press release, ZP CEO Tulasi Maddineni said that voters can use services of 177 buses, 64 maxicabs, 30 mini buses, and 72 jeeps in 1,547 polling booths in 203 gram panchayats to visit the polling booths to exercise their franchise.
Voters can use services of 24 buses, 20 mini bus and 32 jeeps for 225 polling booths in 45 gram panchayats of Sullia constituency.
Services of 20 buses, eight maxicabs, seven jeeps are available in 238 polling stations in 43 gram panchayats of Belthangady constituency; 32 buses, four maxicabs, three matadors and 12 jeeps are available in 207 polling stations in 27 gram panchayats of Moodbidri constituency; Voters can avail services of 34 buses, 15 maxicabs, six mini buses and 2 jeeps in 226 polling booths of 10 gram panchayats in Mangalore North constituency; 30 buses, 16 maxicabs, 12 jeeps will be available in 197 polling stations in 21 GPs of Mangalore constituency; Nine buses, nine maxicabs and seven jeeps will be available for voters of 240 polling booths in 29 gram panchayats and voters can avail the services of 29 buses, 12 maxicabs, and one mini bus in 214 polling stations in 28 GPs in Puttur constituency. Stating that the authorities have not withdrawn bus facility from those routes where there are only one bus service facilities, to be used in the polling process, he said that about 80 per cent of the inter-state bus facilities especillay from Kasargod route have been withdrawn. More emphsis has been given to check cross border voting.
Voters
There are 15,54,091 voters in the district, which includes 7,90,423 women voters and 68 others.
The total number of polling booths in the district is 1,766; Belthangady—238, Moodbidri—207, Mangalore North—226, Mangalore South—219, Mangalore—197, Bantwal—240, Puttur—214 and Sullia—225.
Webcasting
The district administration will introduce webcasting facilities in 272 polling booths in the district.
Students from engineering colleges will capture the live polling video in the selected polling booths and will upload in the district administration’s official website. The officials at the district control room will monitor the polling process directly in the district control rooms.