Gram Panchayat polls: 2nd phase uneventful, voter turnout put at 80.71%

Women wait in a queue for exercising their franchise in the gram panchayat elections at a polling booth in Umachagi village of Hubballi taluk on Sunday. DH Photo/Tajuddin Azad

The second phase of the polls to Gram Panchayats in the state recorded an overwhelming turnout of 80.71% on Sunday. A total of 2,709 GPs went to polls in the state.

According to a press release by the Karnataka State Election Commission, Bengaluru Rural saw the highest voter turnout at 91.86% and Bengaluru Urban saw the least turnout at 67.48%

The first phase of polls was held on December 22, in which elections were conducted for 3,019 panchayats. According to official data, more than one lakh contestants are in the fray for 39,378 seats in the panchayat polls in the second phase.

“It was a successful election. I personally visited several polling stations in Devanahalli, Chikkaballapur and Gauribidanur, whereby at 3 pm there was already a turnout of about 75%” State Election Commissioner Basavaraj said.

\The counting for these polls will be taken up on December 30. Since the polling is through ballot paper, the counting will take more time compared to the other polls, according to officials in the election commission.

The voting for the second phase of Gram Panchayat elections was by and large peaceful on Sunday.

A candidate contesting the polls in Sullia taluk of Dakshina Kannada district was detained by the police on the charges of sexually assaulting a minor girl. The police had registered a case on a complaint made by the parents of the girl.

An 80-year-old retired teacher who had come to cast his vote died of a heart attack at Theerthapura in Chikkanayakanahalli taluk of Tumakuru district. The deceased Puttamarularadhya was unwell and had come to the polling booth with the help of his family members.

Similarly, a 92-year-old woman breathed her last after casting vote at Beerenahalli of Hiriyur taluk in Chitradurga district. The deceased was identified as Sarojamma of Shivapura village.

A pregnant woman who contested for the polls delivered a baby girl on the eve of polling day in Wadi of Kalaburagi district. Manjula Guduba is the candidate forward No-4 at Ingalagi village in Chittapur taluk. Interestingly, the new mother and her mother-in-law are in the fray.

Except for minor issues, the second phase of gram panchayat elections were largely peaceful in the Mysuru region. The polls were held for a total of 102 GPs of three taluks - Mysuru, Nanjangud and T Narasipur.

The villagers of Padasalanatta village coming under Male Mahadeshwara Hill boycott the polls demanding immediate payment of compensation to the family of a man who lost his life in a bid to escape himself from a wild elephant attack. The efforts of the election officials and authorities from the Forest department to convince the villagers went in vain. As many as 270 voters did not exercise their franchise.