BENGALURU:
Voting came to an end for the Karnataka Assembly elections on Wednesday at 6 pm with data showing a voter turnout of 65.69 per cent an hour ago. With just an hour left for voting to close for the polls to the 224-member Assembly, Ramanagara recorded the highest turnout of 78.22 per cent, while the lowest polling was from Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) South limits (parts of Bengaluru city) at 48.63 per cent, election officials said.
The state is mainly witnessing a three-cornered contest between the ruling BJP, the Congress and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda’s Janata Dal (Secular). A total of 5.31 crore electors are eligible to cast their vote in 58,545 polling stations across the state, where 2,615 candidates are in the fray.
Prominent among those who voted today include former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who is a Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and former Chief Ministers B S Yediyurappa and D V Sadananda Gowda (both BJP) and Siddaramaiah and Jagadish Shettar (both Congress) and IT industry veteran N R Narayana Murthy and wife Sudha Murty. Karnataka recorded a voter turnout of 72.36 per cent in the 2018 Assembly polls. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who is seeking re-election from Shiggaon in Haveri district for a fourth consecutive term, said he would win with a record margin. ”So is the BJP,” he added, ”which is going to win with a record number of seats.” Bommai said the party would get a ”comfortable majority”.
ನಿಕಟಪೂರ್ವ ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿಗಳು ಹಾಗೂ ಕೇಂದ್ರೀಯ ಸಂಸದೀಯ ಮಂಡಳಿ ಸದಸ್ಯರಾದ ಶ್ರೀ @BSYBJP ಅವರು ಶಿಕಾರಿಪುರದಲ್ಲಿ ಕುಟುಂಬ ಸದಸ್ಯರೊಂದಿಗೆ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದ ಸಮಗ್ರ ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿಗಾಗಿ ಮತ ಚಲಾಯಿಸಿದರು. #KarnatakaVotesForBJP pic.twitter.com/wXSnjx03Aa
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) May 10, 2023
ಸನ್ಮಾನ್ಯ ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿಗಳಾದ ಶ್ರೀ @BSBommai ಅವರು ಸುರಕ್ಷಿತ, ಸುಭದ್ರ ಮತ್ತು ಸಶಕ್ತ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ನಿರ್ಮಾಣಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಇಂದು ಶಿಗ್ಗಾಂವಿಯ ಸರ್ಕಾರಿ ಶಾಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಕುಟುಂಬ ಸದಸ್ಯರೊಂದಿಗೆ ಮತ ಚಲಾಯಿಸಿದರು. #KarnatakaVotesForBJP pic.twitter.com/FS766JNnUg
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) May 10, 2023
#KarnatakaVotesForBJP https://t.co/DTTFvO8d6L
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) May 10, 2023
#KarnatakaVotesForBJP https://t.co/CeDC5HosS6
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) May 10, 2023
#KarnatakaVotesForBJP https://t.co/2b0Bl0xJwv
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) May 10, 2023
#KarnatakaVotesForBJP https://t.co/gLTdjrMbwV
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) May 10, 2023
#KarnatakaVotesForBJP https://t.co/VnRkd1H2s1
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) May 10, 2023
#KarnatakaVotesForBJP https://t.co/6381mlo5iG
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) May 10, 2023
#KarnatakaVotesForBJP https://t.co/A27soHySJC
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) May 10, 2023
#KarnatakaVotesForBJP https://t.co/6OMMhzozIo
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) May 10, 2023
#KarnatakaVotesForBJP https://t.co/JD6sWF0aUa
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) May 10, 2023
#KarnatakaVotesForBJP https://t.co/iheOD2ywEG
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) May 10, 2023
#KarnatakaVotesForBJP https://t.co/1lHEFgVlfh
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) May 10, 2023
#KarnatakaVotesForBJP https://t.co/a57KdfbfPW
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) May 10, 2023
We exercised our franchise. Have you done so yet? I urge everyone to do the appropriate thing. Go and cast your vote. It's the best way to participate in democracy. Don't lose your chance to be part of the change, the stability and progressive state we all wish to see.
— KJ George (@thekjgeorge) May 10, 2023
Vote to… pic.twitter.com/YJsmPuyxvi
#Karnataka2023 elections
— Krishna Byre Gowda (@krishnabgowda) May 10, 2023
Vote ✔️#CongressBaralidePragatiTaralide pic.twitter.com/jKSLu4NyYq
ಹುಬ್ಬಳ್ಳಿಯ ಕುಸುಗಲ್ ರಸ್ತೆಯಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಎಸ್.ಬಿ.ಐ ಆಫೀಸರ್ಸ್ ಸೊಸೈಟಿ ಕನ್ನಡ ಮತ್ತು ಆಂಗ್ಲ ಮಾಧ್ಯಮ ಶಾಲೆಯ ಮತಗಟ್ಟೆ ಸಂಖ್ಯೆ 122 ರಲ್ಲಿ ಕುಟುಂಬ ಸಮೇತವಾಗಿ ಮತದಾನ ಮಾಡಲಾಯಿತು.
— Jagadish Shettar (@JagadishShettar) May 10, 2023
ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರದ ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿಗಾಗಿ ನಾನು ಮತ ಚಲಾಯಿಸಿದ್ದೇನೆ, ನೀವು ಸಹ ತಪ್ಪದೇ ಮತದಾನ ಮಾಡಿ.#Hubballi pic.twitter.com/58upetPeEw
ವಿಪಕ್ಷ ನಾಯಕರಾದ @siddaramaiah ಅವರು ವರುಣಾ ವಿಧಾನ ಸಭಾ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರದ ಸಿದ್ದರಾಮನ ಹುಂಡಿಯ ಮತಗಟ್ಟೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮತ ಚಲಾಯಿಸಿದರು.#CongressWinning150 pic.twitter.com/sSAgXuL9sh
— Karnataka Congress (@INCKarnataka) May 10, 2023
ಕೆಪಿಸಿಸಿ ಅಧ್ಯಕ್ಷರಾದ @DKShivakumar ಅವರು ಕನಕಪುರ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರದ ದೊಡ್ಡಾಲಹಳ್ಳಿ ಮತಗಟ್ಟೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮತ ಚಲಾಯಿಸಿದರು.#CongressWinning150 pic.twitter.com/XYJYtvabkb
— Karnataka Congress (@INCKarnataka) May 10, 2023
ಎಐಸಿಸಿ ಅಧ್ಯಕ್ಷರಾದ ಶ್ರೀ @kharge ಅವರು ಕಲ್ಬುರ್ಗಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮತ ಚಲಾಯಿಸಿದರು.#CongressWinning150 pic.twitter.com/ZVNomBCPnO
— Karnataka Congress (@INCKarnataka) May 10, 2023
First-time voters and the elderly stole the show as they were seen participating in the voting process enthusiastically in many segments. Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier on Wednesday urged the people of Karnataka to vote in large numbers and enrich the ”festival of democracy”. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi too appealed to the people of Karnataka to vote in large numbers to build a progressive and a ”40-per-cent-commission-free” state. Meanwhile, violence was reported in some areas. Villagers of Masabinal in Vijayapura district stopped a poll duty vehicle carrying electronic voting machines (EVMs), manhandled an officer and damaged some control and ballot units on Wednesday, following which 23 persons were arrested, the Election Commission said. The villagers stopped a sector officer’s vehicle, which was carrying reserved EVMs, and damaged two control and ballot units each and three VVPATs (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) machines, the EC said in a statement.
”A sector officer was manhandled, 23 people arrested,” the EC said, adding that top district officials rushed to the village, which comes under Basavana Bagewadi Assembly segment.
Police sources said the villagers’ ”action” came after ”rumours” that officials were ”changing” the EVMs and VVPATs.
Meanwhile, in Padmanabhanagar constituency here, some youth armed with sticks attacked their political rivals in a polling booth at Papaiah Garden. They went on a rampage in which a few women standing in queue to vote were injured, the sources said. In another incident at Sanjeevarayanakote in Ballari district, some Congress and BJP workers came to blows. PTI
