Karnataka by-polls: Bellary, Jamkhandi register highest voter turnout till 3pm

The polling for three Lok Sabha and two assembly constituencies in Karnataka were held on Saturday, with the ruling Congress-JDS coalition facing a litmus test. The outcome of the polling is expected to have a bearing on the state's political scene.

The three parliamentary constituencies are -- Bellary, Shimoga, Mandya and the two legislative assembly constituencies are -- Jamkhandi and Ramanagaram. 

The polls are significant as the coalition partners, who have decided to contest them together, have termed it as a "prelude" to the May 2019 general elections and called for a similar "grand secular alliance" against the BJP at the national level. BJP which has been questioning the longevity of the coalition government has predicted its fall once the by-poll results are out.

Polling in the by-polls were held from 7 am to 6 pm with a total of 54,54,275 voters eligible to cast their franchise in about 6,450 polling stations.

There are a total 31 candidates in the fray in all the five constituencies, though the contest is mainly between the Congress-JDS combine and the BJP. Counting of votes will be on November 6.

Among the prominent candidates in the fray is Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy's wife Anita Kumaraswamy, who is expected to have a smooth sail facing a virtual no-contest in Ramanagara after BJP nominee L Chandrashekhar withdrew from the contest and rejoined Congress, giving a jolt days before the polls.

Officials at the state Chief Electoral Officer's office said a total of 1,502 polling stations had been declared as sensitive.

Here are the highlights:

# 61.05%, 63.85% and 53.93% voting recorded in parliamentary constituencies Shimoga, Bellary and Mandya respectively. 73.71% and 81.58% voting recorded in legislative Assembly constituencies Ramanagaram and Jamkhandi respectively. Voting has concluded.

# Voter turnout till 3 pm: Parliamentary constituencies Bellary - 47%, Shimoga - 41.49% and Mandya - 37.7%. Legislative assembly constituencies Jamkhandi - 58.82% and Ramnagar - 54.76%.

# BJP MLA B Sriramulu cast his vote at polling station no. 52 in Bellary city.

Karnataka: BJP MLA B Sriramulu cast his vote at polling station no. 52 in Bellary city. Voting for 3 parliamentary constituencies Bellary, Shimoga, Mandya & 2 legislative assembly constituencies Jamkhandi, Ramanagaram began at 7 am today. pic.twitter.com/GhmQMnCTZT — ANI (@ANI) November 3, 2018

# Moderate voting of around 35 per cent has been registered across the five constituencies till 1 pm. While Jamkhandi registered a high voting percentage of 43.50 as of 1 pm, Mandya stood at the lowest with 26.8 per cent An Election Commission official said, "Moderate voting of around 35 per cent has been registered across the five constituencies till 1 pm. Polling has been going on in a peaceful manner barring few Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) glitches which were rectified soon," said the official to IANS. Shimoga saw 30.2 per cent, Bellary 35.7 per cent and Ramanagara 39.8 per cent of voting.

#  Madhu Bangarappa, JDS candidate from the parliamentary constituency of Shimoga cast his vote at a polling booth in Kubtur: ANI

# Congress candidate from legislative assembly constituency of Jamkhandi, Anand Nyamagouda, casts his vote at polling booth number 125.

#KarnatakaByElection2018: Anand Nyamagouda, Congress candidate from legislative assembly constituency of Jamkhandi casts his vote at polling booth number 125. pic.twitter.com/JAcCf7zWto — ANI (@ANI) November 3, 2018

# The voter turnout till 9 am in the parliamentary constituencies of Bellary is 4.40 per cent, in Shimoga is 8.61 per cent and in Mandya it reached 4.18 per cent. In legislative assembly constituencies of the voter turnout is Jamkhandi 9 per cent and in Ramnagar it reached 8 per cent.

# The voting at polling booth number 179 in Mottedoddi of Ramanagaram was delayed after a snake was spotted. The polling resumed soon after it was soon spotted and removed. 

#WATCH: A snake being removed from polling booth 179 in Mottedoddi of Ramanagaram. The voting was delayed after it was spotted and resumed soon after it was removed. #KarnatakaByElection2018 pic.twitter.com/W1XrDeIP3z — ANI (@ANI) November 3, 2018

# People queue up outside booth no. 50 in Hirepadasalgi village of Jamkhandi to cast their votes

Karnataka: People queue up outside booth no. 50 in Hirepadasalgi village of Jamkhandi to cast their votes for #KarnatakaByElection2018. pic.twitter.com/sWM7AqQjXO — ANI (@ANI) November 3, 2018

# BJP candidate Srikant Kulkarni casts his vote at booth no 150 in Hirepadasalgi village of Jamkhandi. 

#KarnatakaByElection2018: BJP candidate Srikant Kulkarni casts his vote at booth no. 150 in Hirepadasalgi village of Jamkhandi. Voting for 3 parliamentary constituencies Bellary, Shimoga, Mandya & 2 legislative assembly constituencies Jamkhandi, Ramanagaram began at 7 am today. pic.twitter.com/sQA72sbM2q — ANI (@ANI) November 3, 2018

# BS Yeddyurappa casts his vote at a polling booth in ward no 132 at Shikaripura in Shimoga.

Former Karnataka CM BS Yeddyurappa casts his vote at a polling booth in ward no 132 at Shikaripura in Shimoga. Voting for 3 parliamentary constituencies Bellary, Shimoga, Mandya&2 legislative assembly constituencies Jamkhandi, Ramanagaram began at 7 am today. #KarnatakaByElection pic.twitter.com/6SIbyGRZ1q — ANI (@ANI) November 3, 2018

# Former Karnataka CM BS Yeddyurappa and his son BS Raghavendra visit Hucharaya Swamy Temple in Shimoga. BS Raghavendra is contesting from parliamentary constituency of Shimoga. "101 per cent my son (BS Raghavendra) is going to win the Shimoga seat. We are also going to win Bellary and Jamkhandi. We will get absolute majority in all the constituencies," Yeddyurappa.

Former Karnataka CM BS Yeddyurappa and his son BS Raghavendra visit Hucharaya Swamy Temple in Shimoga. BS Raghavendra is contesting from parliamentary constituency of Shimoga. pic.twitter.com/Mm6cE44UDB — ANI (@ANI) November 3, 2018

# Polling starts at 7 am in Karnataka for three parliamentary constituencies -- Bellary, Shimoga, Mandya and two legislative assembly constituencies -- Jamkhandi and Ramanagaram.

# Polling in the by-polls to three Lok Sabha seats - Ballari, Shivamogga and Mandya and Ramanagara - and Jamkhandi assembly segments will be held between 7 am to 6 pm, with a total of 54,54,275 voters elgible to cast their franchise in about 6,450 polling stations. Counting of votes will be on November 6.

# There are a total 31 candidates in the fray in all thefive constituencies, though the contest is mainly between the Congress-JDS combine and the BJP. Among the prominent candidates in the fray is Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy's wife Anita Kumaraswamy, who is expected to have a smooth sail facing a virtual no-contest in Ramanagara after BJP nominee L Chandrashekhar withdrew from the contest and rejoined Congress, giving a jolt days before the polls.

# Officials at the state Chief Electoral Officer's office said a total of 1,502 polling stations had been declared as sensitive. A total of 35,495 polling personnel will be on duty for the bypolls in which 8,922 Voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) will be used, they added. Senior police officials said elaborate security arrangements have been made in all the five constituencies.

# The announcement of the by-polls for the Lok Sabha seats came as a surprise to all the three major political parties in the state -- Congress, BJP and JD(S) -- who questioned the need for the exercise when the general elections are due early next year. Congress and JDS, who came together in a post-poll alliance after the assembly elections in May this year threw up a hung House, have decided to face the polls unitedly against the BJP, which they perceive as their common enemy. While the Congress has fielded its candidates in Jamkhandi and Ballari, JD(S) is contesting in Shivamogga, Ramanagara and Mandya under an electoral understanding.

# The bypolls brought to fore family politics with kin of several leaders being fielded. In Jamkhandi, Congress candidate Anand Nyamagowda, son of former MLA Siddu Nyamagouda, is pitted against Srikant Kulkarni of the BJP. In Shivamogga, state BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa's son B Y Raghavendra is testing his fortunes against another former chief ministerS Bangarappa's son Madhu Bangarappa of the JD(S). In Ballari, senior BJP leader Sriramulu's sister J Shantha is fighting against V S Ugrappa of the Congress, considered an outsider. In the Vokkaliga bastion of Mandya, JD(S)'s Shivarame Gowda, is pitted against a fresh face in Dr Siddaramaiah, a retired Commercial Tax officer from the BJP.

# BJP has lodged a complaint with the Election Commission about the developments in Ramanagara and requested it to "annul" the elections immediately. During campaigning, open expression of displeasure by Congress workers came to fore in Ramanagara and Mandya constituencies that come under old Mysuru region over the party's decision to support the JDS candidates.

# The by-elections have been necessitated after Yeddyurappa (Shivamogga) and Sriramalu (Ballari), and C S Puttaraju of JD(S) (Mandya) resigned as MPs on their election to the assembly in May this year. Bypolls to Jamkhandi assembly seat was caused by the death of Congress MLA Siddu Nyamagou.

BJP which has been questioning the longevity of the coalition government has predicted its fall once the by-poll results are out. The outcome of the by-polls is expected to have a bearing on the alliance between Congress and JDS for the 2019 polls and also be a factor in determining the respective bargaining power of the two parties.