JOIN USBellary polling peaceful, 71 % vote
According to Chief Electoral Officer (in-charge) R Manoj, polling in the constituency this time around was about 11.5 per cent more compared to the 2008 Assembly election when voter turnout was 59.7 per cent. Only about 57.3 per cent voters in the constituency had voted during the 2009 parliamentary elections.
The Office of Chief Electoral Officer said it had not received any request for re-polling from anywhere.
“The impressive voter turnout indicates the OCEO’s efforts to clear errors in the voters’ list and bring about awareness on exercising franchise have yielded results,” he claimed. The OCEO had worked for over a month to set up the 195 booths and tighten security during voting. It made the voters exercise their franchise without any fear.
The personnel of the paramilitary forces and the police were seen patrolling the booths till late evening, instilling confidence among the electorate. While some booths recorded 60 per cent voting by 2 pm, voters streamed into other booths till 6.30 pm.
Polling was halted for a while in a booth in the city limits due to a technical glitch. In another booth, a polling officer fell sick and was shifted to hospital.
Gadilingappa (BJP), the only candidate residing in the constituency, exercised his vote at Paramadevanahalli. Flow of cash for voters didn’t stop even on the day of polling with police seizing wads of currency at Paramadevanahalli.
Threat to life
Bellary Urban Development Authority chairperson Vinod Kumar has made an oral complaint against MLA Somasekhara Reddy alleging that the legislator threatened to kill him, Returning Officer A A Biswas said.
Kumar said that while he was on his way to a polling booth in Cowl Bazaar, Reddy threatened him with dire consequences for supporting the BJP candidate. Kumar said he would file a written complaint after discussing the issue with the party leaders.