Goof-ups, last-minute deals mark polls

The elections to the Legislative Council from the local bodies constituencies lack the sights and sounds of polls where the common man casts his vote. But on Sunday, the elections did report some drama that grabbed attention. Goof-ups and some politicking were reported at a few places.

Voters being recalled to recast their votes after a goof-up was the highlight in Shivamogga district. One of them had already reached Shivamogga for a wedding after casting his vote at the Tyagarthi Gram Panchayat in Sagar taluk. He was called on the phone and a taxi was hired to bring him back to Tyagarthi from Shivamogga.

The electoral staff handed over the acknowledgement slip (counter foil) along with the ballot paper to five voters. As per norms, the presiding officer should retain the acknowledgement slip containing the voter’s signature. The five voters put the ballot papers along with the slips on which they had signed into the box.

The ballot box was changed and all the five voters were made to recast their votes.
The vote of G H Thippareddy, the BJP legislator from Chitradurga, is likely to be declared invalid as he marked the ballot paper in the open, which is against the rules, in Chitradurga. The vote may be declared invalid during counting.

Election officers have kept the vote of Shanteyanda Ravi Kushalappa, a BJP member of the Kodagu Zilla Panchayat, under suspension, as he marked the ballot paper in the open. The next course of action would follow instructions of the State Election Commission.

State BJP president Pralhad Joshi told reporters after casting his vote in Dharwad that he would look into the complaint of party leader Revu Nayak Belamagi distributing money to voters.

The JD(S) leaders asked their BJP counterparts to ensure that the second preference votes of voters belonging to the BJP are cast in favour of the JD(S). Pradeep Shettar, brother of former chief minister Jagadish Shettar, is the BJP candidate. The JD(S) has fielded B S Vagesh Prasad. Dharwad is a double-member constituency.

Poll percentage

CONSTITUENCY    TURNOUT   

Bidar    99.61
Kalaburagi    99.71
Vijayapura    99.8
Belagavi    99.01
Uttara Kannada    99.5
Dharwad    99.46
Raichur    99.82
Ballari    99.82
Chitradurga    99.79
Dakshina Kannada    99.59
Chikkamagaluru    99.76
Hassan    99.81
Tumakuru    99.75
Mandya    99.8
Bengaluru Rural    99.67
Bengaluru Urban    99.93
Kodagu    99.86
Mysuru    99.88
Shivamogga    99.47