Karnataka Assembly Election 2018: Vastu Drama, Mosquito Menace, VIP Tantrums: Karnataka's Voting Day So Far
Polling in Bengaluru's Raja Rajeshwari Nagar segment has been postponed to May 28 in the voter ID cards case and countermanded in the city's Jayanagar seat following the death of BJP contestant B.N. Vijaya Kumar on May 4.
Image: News18 Creatives/ Mir Suhail
In what is projected as a tight race, voting is being held in 222 out of 224 seats in a three-cornered contest among the ruling Congress, the BJP and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda's JD(S).
"A single-phase polling began at 7.00 a.m. in 222 of the 224 assembly constituencies, including 36 reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SC) and 15 for the Scheduled Tribes (ST)," said an official. Polling in Bengaluru's Raja Rajeshwari Nagar segment has been postponed to May 28 in the voter ID cards case and countermanded in the city's Jayanagar seat following the death of BJP contestant B.N. Vijaya Kumar on May 4.
Have a look at the interesting facts from Karnataka Assembly Election 2018:
* Over 2,600 candidates are in the fray — more than 2400 men and over 200 women.
* The total voters including service electors according to the 2018 final rolls are 5,06,90,538, of whom 2,56,75,579 male voters, 2,50,09,904 female and 5,055 transgender voters.
* Transport inconvenience, EVMs malfunction and natural hurdles like rainfall may have temporarily disrupted voting till now, but this time, Karnataka voters face another problem — the mosquito menace.
* Enraged over mosquitoes biting them, voters in three booths in Bengaluru's Madevapura Assembly seat curse Election Commission for not taking precautionary measures. Meanwhile, the security personnel at the voting centres had to swing into action to bring in mosquito coils
to avoid any protest in this regard.
*One may often come across interesting beliefs and traditions in a culturally rich country like India. As residents vote in the crucial Karnataka elections, wife of JD(S) candidate G T Deve Gowda in CM Siddaramaiah's turf of Chamundeshwari force election personnel to shift the EVM machine to a "better place" due to 'Vastu Shastra'.
* For the first time in Karnataka, one all women-managed polling station (Sakhi) has been set up in all rural assembly constituencies and five in each urban constituency (totalling 600 polling stations).
* Officials said 58,008 polling stations have been set up across the state, of which 12002 have been designated as "critical", with over 3,50,000 polling personnel on duty.
* Police have made elaborate security arrangements for the smooth conduct of polls that will go on till 6 pm.
* State electoral authorities have also taken certain new initiatives such as SMS-based polling station access, app-based polling station access and navigation and queue status facility for a few polling stations with higher voter population.
* "82,157 people have been deployed for poll duty that include DSPs, home guards and civil defence, and forest guards and watchers, Karnataka DGP Neelamani N Raju said.
* The current polls are seen as one of the most complex the state had ever witnessed with many imponderables that have left most analysts to bet on a fractured mandate in a cliffhanger.
* Four candidates who have served as chief minister of Karnataka are in the fray —current incumbent Siddaramaiah (Chamundeshwari and Badami), B S Yeddyurappa (Shikaripura), H D Kumaraswamy (Chennapatna and Ramanagara) and Jagadish Shettar (Hubli-Dharwad Central.)
* Some special polling stations with ethnic look in primitive tribal areas have been established on a pilot basis.
* Counting of votes will take place on May 15.
"A single-phase polling began at 7.00 a.m. in 222 of the 224 assembly constituencies, including 36 reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SC) and 15 for the Scheduled Tribes (ST)," said an official. Polling in Bengaluru's Raja Rajeshwari Nagar segment has been postponed to May 28 in the voter ID cards case and countermanded in the city's Jayanagar seat following the death of BJP contestant B.N. Vijaya Kumar on May 4.
Have a look at the interesting facts from Karnataka Assembly Election 2018:
* Over 2,600 candidates are in the fray — more than 2400 men and over 200 women.
* The total voters including service electors according to the 2018 final rolls are 5,06,90,538, of whom 2,56,75,579 male voters, 2,50,09,904 female and 5,055 transgender voters.
* Transport inconvenience, EVMs malfunction and natural hurdles like rainfall may have temporarily disrupted voting till now, but this time, Karnataka voters face another problem — the mosquito menace.
* Enraged over mosquitoes biting them, voters in three booths in Bengaluru's Madevapura Assembly seat curse Election Commission for not taking precautionary measures. Meanwhile, the security personnel at the voting centres had to swing into action to bring in mosquito coils
to avoid any protest in this regard.
*One may often come across interesting beliefs and traditions in a culturally rich country like India. As residents vote in the crucial Karnataka elections, wife of JD(S) candidate G T Deve Gowda in CM Siddaramaiah's turf of Chamundeshwari force election personnel to shift the EVM machine to a "better place" due to 'Vastu Shastra'.
* For the first time in Karnataka, one all women-managed polling station (Sakhi) has been set up in all rural assembly constituencies and five in each urban constituency (totalling 600 polling stations).
* Officials said 58,008 polling stations have been set up across the state, of which 12002 have been designated as "critical", with over 3,50,000 polling personnel on duty.
* Police have made elaborate security arrangements for the smooth conduct of polls that will go on till 6 pm.
* State electoral authorities have also taken certain new initiatives such as SMS-based polling station access, app-based polling station access and navigation and queue status facility for a few polling stations with higher voter population.
* "82,157 people have been deployed for poll duty that include DSPs, home guards and civil defence, and forest guards and watchers, Karnataka DGP Neelamani N Raju said.
* The current polls are seen as one of the most complex the state had ever witnessed with many imponderables that have left most analysts to bet on a fractured mandate in a cliffhanger.
* Four candidates who have served as chief minister of Karnataka are in the fray —current incumbent Siddaramaiah (Chamundeshwari and Badami), B S Yeddyurappa (Shikaripura), H D Kumaraswamy (Chennapatna and Ramanagara) and Jagadish Shettar (Hubli-Dharwad Central.)
* Some special polling stations with ethnic look in primitive tribal areas have been established on a pilot basis.
* Counting of votes will take place on May 15.