Karnataka Bypolls: Sira clocks 82% polling, RR Nagar stops at 45%

A contrast in voting patterns marked the Sira and Rajarajeshwari Nagar bypolls on Tuesday.

While the Sira constituency in Tumakuru district witnessed brisk polling with a total voter turnout of 82.31%, voting in the urban Rajarajeshwari Nagar segment, characteristic of urban centres, was at a slack pace, ending at 45.24%.

According to the Election Commission, Tuesday's voter turnout was the lowest in Rajarajeshwari Nagar since the 2013 assembly election (56.8%), the 2015 BBMP election (50.17%), the 2018 assembly election (54.34%) and the 2019 Lok Sabha election (53.65%).

Sira recorded 84% turnout in the 2018 assembly polls.

The bypolls were among the first in Karnataka since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out. They were held with special precautions and arrangements were made for even Covid-19 patients to exercise their franchise. As many as 148 Covid-19 positive voters, clad in PPE kits, voted in Rajarajeshwari Nagar. In Sira, 38 Covid-19 patients exercised their franchise.

The outcome of these bypolls will not matter much to the ruling BJP in terms of its numerical strength in the Assembly. However, for Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, winning both seats would stamp his authority amid talk of a change in leadership.

The bypolls are seen as a litmus test for KPCC president DK Shivakumar - this is his first electoral challenge after taking over as the chief. Also, both seats have a sizable number of Vokkaligas, the community he belongs to.

It is also said that the outcome of these bypolls will be a precursor to the upcoming BBMP and gram panchayat elections.

Poll managers say the Sira contest could be a photo-finish because of the triangular contest. Based on the turnout at Sira, the JD(S) camp was upbeat and the party hopes to retain the seat riding on sympathy for its candidate and support from Vokkaliga voters. The Congress is also confident of a victory, without ruling out a good fight from the BJP, a party that has never won here.

In Rajarajeshwari Nagar, the low turnout could bode well for the ruling BJP. However, the Congress claims to have made ground in the run-up to poll day, just enough to claim that its candidate might just make it narrowly.

BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel was confident of the party securing wins in both the constituencies. "Voters who have seen the development programmes of the state government and the manner in which it handled the Covid-19 pandemic will definitely back the party," he said in a statement.