Karnataka election: 70% turnout as contentious contest between BJP, Congress ends; urban areas disappoint

Bengaluru: Karnataka saw 70 percent turnout across 222 constituencies for the 15th Assembly poll on Saturday after a bitter run-up to the election. Polling was, by and large, peaceful with some villages declaring a boycott and an incident of stone-pelting in Yadgir district. In Bengaluru, polling wasn’t enthusiastic, with the urban population registering less than 50 percent voter turnout till 6 pm. [caption id=“attachment_4467205” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Women voters at CV Nagar constituency in Bengaluru. Image courtesy: Archita Puranik[/caption] Bengaluru rural and adjacent constituencies of Ramanagaram, Chamarajnagar, Mandya and Hassan witnessed over 70 percent turnout. Elections were not held in two Bengaluru city constituencies: Polls in Rajarajeshwari Nagardue were deferred to 28 May due to malpractice, while in Jayanagar, the sitting MLA and BJP candidate BN Vijayakumar died after cardiac arrest. The Election Commission (EC) declared that re-polling would be held at a polling station in Hebbal’s Lottegollahalli due to malfunction in electronic voting machines (EVMs). Reports of malfunctioning EVMs emerged from elsewhere; an early count said 164 polling units, 157 control units and 470 VVPATs malfunctioned. Despite the EC maintaining a strict vigil to ensure free and fair polls, a 500 percent increase in cash seizures was observed: Rs 67.27 crore in cash, and gold and silver worth more than Rs 43 crore. Liquor worth Rs 23.36 crore and gifts stocked in godowns in the form of sarees, clothes, vehicles and utensils were also seized. There were reports of cash being distributed overnight and many party workers being caught. The EC made elaborate arrangements to draw more voters in Karnataka with first-time initiatives such as pink booths (also called ‘sakhi booths’), which were managed by women officials dressed in pink, but there was no bar on men exercising their franchise at these polling stations. Flowers, bangles and pink nail polish bottles were handed out to women voters. Some of these booths even had a play area to keep children occupied while parents played their part in democracy. “These booths are part of an effort to ensure women come out and vote under the SVEEP (Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation) programme,” said Haveri deputy commissioner MV Venkatesh. Some voters stuck, others boycott election Through the day, there were reports of brisk polling in all 30 districts as heavy rain was predicted for later in the evening. Many found it tough to travel to their native place to cast their vote as the Karnataka State Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses were requisitioned for poll duty. While trains were chock-a-block, private bus operators fleeced passengers. “Bus operators are collecting more than double the fare from Bengaluru to Mangaluru. While the normal fare is Rs 400, I paid Rs 1,000’’, said Jayakumar Shetty, a hotel worker in Bengaluru. The story was similar in other parts of the state. [caption id=“attachment_4467207” align=“alignright” width=“380”]  First-time voters in Dharwad. Image courtesy: Manjunath Somaraddi[/caption] Death and transport woes One ailing farmer brought on a stretcher to the polling station in Maddur taluk died soon after he cast his vote, confirmed fellow villagers. Mandya-Mysuru region witnessed a strong battle between Congress and the regional JD(S) where every vote counts. In Bailhongal taluk of Belgaum district, villagers from Hogarthi boycotted voting as police reportedly refused to act in a case where a pregnant woman was murdered. The villagers are upset that her in-laws haven’t been arrested. Members of a family came out to vote despite their mother Siddavvaa’s death at Shahapur constituency in Yadgir district. In Kodagu, tribals of Kerathottu Paisari hamlet, protesting the lack of drinking water and roads and dejected about polling stations being set up 7 kilometres away, boycotted the polls in Virajpet constituency. Two hundred voters refused to walk to the polling stations without any transport and demanded the deputy commissioner visit their hamlet. Poor infrastructure at a Dalit colony in Hemmanhalli of Maddur taluk kept around 300 voters away. They claimed they have been denied drinking water, drainage facility, street lights and roads and access to housing and loan schemes. All three coastal districts averaged 72 percent percent polling, though politicos and analysts wanted the figure to cross 80 percent in different pockets to ensure a clear cut winner on Tuesday. Analysing poor voter turnout in pockets, Biddanda Chengappa, political analyst and head of department of political science in Christ University, said, “It does not augur well considering the proportion of representation of people, which leads to lopsided development and clogging up of the democratic process. This is why some countries penalise citizens for not participating in the electoral process”. Name calling, accusations fly Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is pitted against BJP Member of Parliament B Sriramulu in Badami. They are also contesting from other constituencies: Siddaramaiah from Chamundeshwari in Mysuru city and Sriramulu from Molakalmuru in Chitradurga. Siddaramaiah’s son Yathindra is contesting from Varuna, currently represented by the chief minister. BJP’s chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa is contesting from Shikaripura in Shivamogga district. HD Kumaraswamy from JD(S), the other chief ministerial aspirant, is also contesting from two seats: Channapatna and Ramanagaram constituencies. From Badami to Chamundeshwari, candidates and their supporters conducted elaborate pujas to ensure their electoral success. In south Karnataka, the fight is between JD(S) and Congress, while it is a direct contest between heavyweights Congress and BJP elsewhere. The key issues: Lingayat, Bengaluru’s infrastructure, Mahadayi river issue and corruption. The run-up to the election saw all three major players accusing each other of betraying the state and failing the people. Congress and BJP have been at each other and often strayed below the belt. While Siddaramaiah mocked Yeddyurappa and BJP’s choice of candidates as tainted with corruption charges, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the Congress government by calling it “10 percent sarkar”. On polling day, Siddaramaiah even went so far as to call Yeddyurappa mentally deranged when the latter reportedly said “I will fly to Delhi on the 15th once the results are announced and meet Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi. I will invite him and others for the swearing-in ceremony which is going to happen most likely on the 17th”. Three Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) workers were detained after they were allegedly found distributing money north Karnataka’s Humnabad. The police seized Rs 11 lakh cash and a car from them. In another case, close aides of MLA and KSRTC chairman C Puttaranga Shetty were arrested while allegedly distributing money near a polling booth at Venkataiah Chathra village in Chamarajanagar. The flying squad arrested two people and seized from them a vehicle and Rs 97,500 cash. With inputs from Anil Budur Lulla, Maheswara Reddy and M Raghuram. Contributors are Karnataka-based freelance writers and members of 101reporters.com_, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters._