Polling began on a moderate note for the Assembly polls across the State this morning. In the four constituencies of Mysore city and in Varuna where Congress’ CM candidate Siddharamaiah is contesting, polling was moderate since morning, recording an average polling percentage of 35 votes by 1 pm. However, the tempo is likely to gather momentum later in the afternoon, taking advantage of the voting time extended till 6 pm, in consideration of the scorching summer.

The pattern of polling in other parts of the districts was no different, probably as people refrained from venturing out owing to humid atmosphere.

Overall voting process went on peacefully, with no untoward incident reported from any part of the district.

However, incidents of names missing from voters’ lists were rampant, considering the number of complaints made to SOM office over the phone, right from as early as 7.30 am.

A retired government employee, who claimed to have been voting for the past 15 years, was deeply upset to find that his name was not found in the voters’ list despite him having enrolled his and his wife’s name on Apr. 2, following the absence of their names in the list during the recently held MCC polls.

The voters of Sankranthi Circle in Hebbal too were exasperated to find that their polling booth had been shifted to a distant location in Metagalli, without being notified in advance.

Chamundeshwari constituency

Amidst tight security, polling of votes for Chamundeshwari constituency this morning began on a brisk note at polling booths located in Hootagalli, Belawadi, Kergalli, Hinkal, Bogadi (including SBM Layout), Yelwal, Srirampura, Siddalingapura, Mahadevapura, parts of Ramakrishna Nagar and Vijayanagar fourth stage.

Congress candidate M. Satyanarayana and his wife B.V. Nirmala cast their votes at Doddegowdanakoppal in Yelwal Hobli.

While JD(S) candidate G.T. Deve Gowda and his son Harish Gowda exercised their franchise at a school in Hunsur, his wife K. Lalitha and daughters Annapoorna and Yashoda cast their votes at Gungral Chatra in Yelwal Hobli.

KJP candidate Appanna exercised his franchise at the Nirmithi Kendra in Hinkal as BJP candidate Hemanth Kumar Gowda accompanied by his wife Shobha cast his vote at the Government School in Siddalingapura.

CCTV cameras were installed in all the booths in the constituency to keep a watch on the activities in and outside the booths.

A total of 1,85,087 voters including 94,575 male and 90,512 women voters are likely to cast their votes at 287 designated polling booths including 21 auxiliary polling booths in the constituency which includes 39 hypersensitive and 100 sensitive booths.

Polling takes place amid tight security

Mysore, May 5- The polling in Narasimharaja constituency began amidst tight security with 5 Para Military Force personnel being deployed at each polling station. The first hour of polling was dull with not many of the voters coming out of their houses to exercise their franchise.

Voters were seen standing in queues at various polling stations at Gayathripuram, Ghousianagar, Kyathamaranahalli, Udayagiri and other areas. The voters in Gayathripuram faced a minor problem as some of their names were added to the voters’ list in a different ward.

All polling booths had Booth Level Officers (BLO), who were seen handing over the voters’ slip to the voters.

In all, 25 transgenders have been added to the voters’ list in Narasimharaja constituency. Transgenders were seen casting their votes in their respective polling booths. Chandini alias Aslam Pasha, a transgender, contesting from Ambedkar Janata Party, cast vote at the polling booth in Government ITI College.

Congress candidate Tanveer Sait cast his vote at the polling booth at Banumaiah Polytechnic, while JD(S) candidate Sandesh Swamy and BJP candidate B.P. Manjunath both cast their votes at respective polling booths in K.R. constituency since both do not reside in N.R. constituency.

Narasimharaja constituency has a total electoral strength of 1,98,387 with 1,00,034 male voters and 98,353 female voters; 210 polling booths have been set up at various locations in the constituency.

At Chamaraja: The polling at Chamaraja constituency began peacefully with no untoward incidents reported. Congress candidate and former Mayor Vasu cast his vote at the polling booth in Mahajana High School in Jayalakshmipuram. JD(S) candidate H.S. Shankarlingegowda, along with his family members, cast his vote at Vijaya Vittala Vidyashala.

KJP candidate Arun Gowda cast his vote at Matrumandali School in V.V. Mohalla, Samajwadi Party candidate Hemavathi cast her vote at the same booth. BJP candidate L.Nagendra cast his vote at a polling booth in K.R. Constituency since he is not a resident of Chamaraja from where he is contesting.

Chamaraja constituency has a total of electoral strength of 2, 16,213 voters with 107830 male voters and 108383 female voters. There a total of 203 polling booths in the constituency out of which 52 have been declared as hyper-sensitive and 60 as sensitive booths.

At KR: Voting at K.R. constituency was also moderate with not many coming out to cast their votes. BJP candidate from KR S.A. Ramdas cast his vote at the polling booth at St. Mary’s Higher Primary School. He was accompanied by his mother Sarojamma, his brother Srikanth Das and sister Uma Devi.

Suttur Seer Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra Swamiji also cast his vote in the same booth. KJP candidate H.V. Rajeev cast his vote at the polling booth in Institute of Eduation, Higher Primary School in Vidyaranyapuram. Congress candidate M.K. Somashekar, contesting from K.R. Constituency cast his vote at Marimallapa’s College.

Courtesy : Star Of Mysore