Karnataka Assembly election 2018 | Live: Instances of ‘cash for votes’ reported from across the State

Voting is under way in 222 of the 224 constituencies in Karnataka and it will be on till 6 p.m. on Saturday.

Faulty electronic voting machines (EVMs), VVPAT-mismatch, technical glitches disrupted polling in several parts of the State, but that didn't deter voters from casting their ballot. Despite Friday night rains, voters turn out in large numbers to exercise their franchise.

While the Congress is seeking a second term, the BJP is aiming to firm up its label as a pan-Indian party by winning a State election in the South. The Janata Dal (Secular) is contesting polls in alliance with the BSP and the AIMIM.

Election in the R.R. Nagar constituency in Bengaluru has been postponed following the seizure of over 9,000 voter ID cards.  Election in Jayanagar in the city has been countermanded following the demise of BJP candidate and sitting MLA Vijay Kumar.

Here are the live updates:

Youth takes photo of casting his vote, posts it on Facebook

A youth in Hassan has allegedly broken the secrecy of voting by taking a photo while casting his vote and uploading the same on his Facebook account.

Akshay Bridal posted the photo of a person pressing the button opposite BJP candidate Preetham Gowda on the Electronic Voting Machine.

He had posted the picture on the FB account with a caption – ‘Vote For..’ – a sort of social media campaign for the BJP candidate. The photo was liked by many on his account and it went viral in the city. However, he removed the post later.

Congress candidate attacked

Sathish GT reports from Hassan

B.P.Manje Gowda, Congress candidate in Holenarasipur constituency, was allegedly attacked by JD(S) workers at Parasanahalli. The angry mob, according to Manje Gowda, threw stones at his car and his assistant Supreeth suffered a head injury in the incident.

Speaking to media Manje Gowda said he received information from his workers that a JD(S) worker was casting votes on behalf of other voters at Parasanahalli village. “When I reached the polling station, I noticed Manjunath, a JD(S) worker, casting vote on behalf of many others. When I questioned this he defended it by saying he was voting on behalf of his family members. When I came out to complain senior officers about the incident, a group surrounded my car and threw stones”, he said.

Following the incident, rapid action force personnel reached the spot and brought the situation under control. Mr. Manje Gowda has said he would appeal to the Election Commission for a re-poll at Parasanahalli.

Cash for votes

Along with reports of brisk polling in many polling stations, there are also reports of voters being enticed with cash.

On Saturday morning, the Kolar Rural police arrested four persons on charges of enticing voters. They were reportedly distributing nose rings to women voters.

At a polling station at Masti in Malur constituency, a man was seen distributing money to voters, who were coming out of the polling booth. The polling officials and police are yet to ascertain the identity of the person and whom he was distributing the cash for.

Man dies after casting vote

M.T.Shivakumar reports:

Thimmegowda (55) of Vaddarahalli village in Pandavapura taluk died minutes after he casted his vote. He was suffering health issues for a while, his family members said.

Mr. Thimmegowda was brought to the polling booth in a wheel chair. He collapsed immediate after casting the vote, fell from the wheel chair, and died outside the booth.

36.9% turnout till 1 pm

The State witnessed a brisk polling of 36.9 per cent till 1 pm.

Dakshina Kannada polled 47 per cent, while Bengaluru Urban polled 28 per cent, the highest and lowest respectively.

Faulty EVM delays voting at Shivajinagar

 

Mohit M. Rao reports:

Polling was disrupted at St. Xavier's Boys High School in Shivajinagar, Bengaluru, after one EVM malfunctioned in the morning. The replacement too malfunctioned.

Voting started only at 8.15 a.m. at the second booth in the St. Xavier's Boys High school. This has meant that the polling percentage is only 18% in this booth, while in the neighbouring booth, it is over 30%.

"The VVPAT was displaying a mismatch error and not accepting the ballot. We got another ballot unit; but even that did not work. Replacing the entire unit didn't help either. We did some trial and error, and found that a mixture of the old and new units worked," said Manjunath, a polling official.

As message that the booth started functioning spread, long lines started forming. Polling officials said because of the delays, they haven't been able to have breakfast nor can they have lunch now.

Voting has been stopped at Kyatanakere in the Belur constituency due to a technical problem in the control unit. The poll officials informed have informed sector officers.

Voting has been stopped for about an hour. So far, 83 people have cast their votes.

EVM malfunction leads to suspension of polling in Hebbal booth

K.V. Aditya Bharadwaj reports:

Voting has been suspended for now in booth number 2, Hebbal Assembly constituency after several voters complained that VVPAT receipt was different from the vote they cast on the EVM.

 “I cast my vote for a particular party, but the VVPAT showed a vote for an independent candidate. I immediately raised the issue and complained. However, the polling officers continued with polling not believing me," said Krishna Chaitanya who voted at around 7:15 am.

Presiding officer of the booth Govindaraj said that they had lodged a complaint after several voters complained of this anomaly and their verification also revealed the same. Voting was suspended at 10.15 a.m. and by then a total of 49 votes were polled.

General observer Dr. Hari Om for Hebbal constituency and a team of BEL engineers rushed to the spot, checked the EVM and confirmed the defect.

 

Clash in Yelahanka

Imran Gowhar reports:

The BJP and JD(S) workers clashed at a booth in Yelahanka Assembly constituency.

The police, who rushed to the spot, said the BJP workers barged into the polling booth, accusing JD(S) workers sitting inside the booth of canvassing for their party candidate.

Heated arguments ensued between the two groups. The situation was tense for a while. Police intervened and pacified both the groups to allow voting.

No complaint has been registered so far.

Poll violations

Umesh Katti, BJP nominee from Hukkeri, allegedly violated the poll rules by guiding his wife Sheela after accompanying her into the polling station in Bellada Bagewadi village. He smiled for cameras and entered the station with her. Once he finished voting, he guided her to vote.

AAP candidate in Hubballi Dharwad Central constituency Santosh Naragund alleges harassment by Police. He says permitted banners are being forcefully being removed by them outside polling stations.

Police resorted to baton-charging to disperse Congress and BJP activists who were clashing, exchanging heated arguments and disturbing poll process in Marapalli village in Chincholi constituency, Kalaburagi district.

21.2% polling till 11 a.m.

According to state electoral authorities, the highest 31 per cent voting was recorded in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts respectively at 11 am while Bengaluru urban recorded the lowest at 17 per cent.

Here is a select list of percentage polled in various disticts.

Bagalkot	24.98%
Belagavi (Belgaum)	26.6%
Ballari	11%
Bidar	19.40%
Vijayapura (Bijapur)	22.6%
Chikballapur	11%
Chikkamagaluru	10%
Chitradurga	8%
Davanagere	9%
Dharwad	10%
Kalaburagi (Gulbarga)	22.10%
Mysuru	19.43%

 

 

Yeddyurappa votes

 

Former Chief Minister and BJP's chief ministerial candidate B.S.  Yeddyurappa casts his vote at Shikaripura, where he is contesting from.

Speaking to press persons later, he expressed confidence that BJP would come to power on its own. The administration machinery had become paralysed under Congress rule and the government had become insensitive to the problems faced by the common people. The Congress will be dislodged from power, he said.

His sons, B.Y. Raghavendra and B.Y. Vijayendra, accompanied him.

Before leaving to exercise his franchise, Yeddyurappa with his party workers went to offer prayers at the ‘Sankata Vimochana Anjaneya’ at Shikaripura in his constituency.

Kagodu Thimmappa, Revenue Minister cast his vote in Sagar city. The district has registered 21 percent polling by 11 am.

Relatively high turnout in Bengaluru

Mohit M. Rao reports:

The capital city of Bengaluru is generally a laggard when it comes to voting turnout. However, long queues were seen early in the morning in many booths, and the city is neck-and-neck in terms of turnout with other rural constituencies.

One of the factors could be fear of rains. The past two days have seen intense rainfall in the evenings, and weathermen predict a high chance of thunderstorms in the city after 2 p.m.

However, there is also an increased interest in voting among urban voters - as evident in social media posts of inked fingers and calls by citizens urging fellow citizens to vote.

In places such as Whitefield, for instance, buses have been arranged by citizens to ferry those in gated communities to vote. While previously just 200 people had voted in this booth, this year, by 10 a.m., over 200 had already voted.

You vote, your kid gets better marks!

 

The campaigns for higher turn out often say exercising your franchise will give the next generation a better tomorrow. Some private schools in the State have given it a new spin.

The New Blossoms Education Society in Bengaluru, for instance, is awarding four marks for their students in the mid-semester examinations, provided their parents show their inked finger.

Several parents were seen queuing up outside the school. Besides this, they can also drop their names for a lucky draw.

Gender empowerment in the time of voting

For the first time in Karnataka, all-woman polling booths have been established across the State. Called ‘Sakhi’, these pink booths are those fully managed by women officers.

Pictures of women staff dressed in pink clothing adorn the booth. The police staff here too are women. There are women medical staff too, equipped with necessary first aid material and ORS packs.

In some pink booths, voters are greeted with roses. There are 'selfie booths' too in these premises.

The idea is to encourage more voters to cast their ballot without fail.

The pink booths made its debut in Punjab Assembly polls and is being followed since then.

Polling delayed at some booths in Mandya

Technical glitches delayed voting at some booths in Mandya district on Saturday. The district has seven Assembly segments and 84 candidates including Independents.

While polling started on a low note at many booths, it was brisk at some places, especially in K.R. Pet and Srirangapatna taluks.

 

Transgender votes for first time

Akkai Padamshali, a noted transgender activist who voted for the first time in the elections, says it has been a 16-year long to exercise her democratic right.

 

Till now, election officials had refused to enroll her as a "female" in the cards. However, earlier this year, after nearly a year of process, she was given a voters ID card. "It is a great happiness that I can finally vote," she says.

 

Several transgenders queued up to cast their votes. For many of them it the first time they are voting with the recognition of "other" category. The EPIC or voter ID cards usually carries the gender as either "Male" or "Female". Last year, the "other" category was included.

According to data available with the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), transgender voter registration has doubled from the previous Assembly elections and 4,552 have registered this year in the State.

 

VVPAT machines used for voting

The voter verified paper audit trail, better known as VVPAT got a thumbs-up from many voters.

Prashanth B.R., a businessman from Hosakote says: “The machines this year are better as we get to see which candidate and party we have voted for after we press the button.”

Meanwhile, voting was delayed in Kannur in Gokak taluk after some voters complained that they were unable to see the images of the voted slip in the VVPAT unit.

Age no bar

Ghashabi, 95, from Bhimalli village in Gulbarga Dakshin constituency exercised her franchise at 9.30 a.m. on Saturday.

She claims that the she had witnessed the attack of Razakars (the army of Hyderabad Nizam) in 1948. She also claims that she had exercised her franchise in all the elections in Independent India.

Ghashabi is not alone. Several nonagenarians and centenarians are casting their votes. This includes the 111-year-old Siddaganga Mutt seer Shivakumara Swami.

Very senior citizens and differently-abled people are allowed to directly inside the booth without standing in queue. These persons can bring a companion with them too.

 

Ola and Uber services down

Since May 11, Ola and Uber services are down as most drivers are from old Mysuru region. They've gone back to their villages.
Ravi, a driver with Uber, went to Pavagada taluk, to vote. Venkata Reddy, a driver, went back to Sidlaghatta over the weekend to vote. “Voting is near-compulsory as the village head questions us if we don't vote. If we vote, the village head will help us in issues in our village.”

Anil Kumble tweets out

"Waiting for our turn to vote! Urging everyone to exercise their rights as citizens!" veteran cricketer and former Team India coach Anil Kumble has tweeted at 9:20 am. The Bengalurean would have casted his vote by now.

An average of 10% votes have been casted till 9 am, according to Karnataka Chief Electoral officer

EC ropes in Facebook

has created reminders for its users to vote for the election on Saturday. The reminder also provides option to upload a photo to show you have voted.

Facebook is filled with posts of people posing with their inked fingers. The Election Commission has tied up with Facebook for its SWEEP campaign to urge more adults to exercise their franchise.

Yaduveer votes for the first time

 

Special Correspondent, Mysuru: Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar exercised his franchise for the first time in Mysuru on Saturday. He was in the U.S. pursuing his graduation during the 2013 elections. Standing in the queue as a common man, the 25-year-old scion of the Mysuru Royal family waited for his turn and cast his ballot at a polling booth in Krishnaraja constituency in Mysuru. He urged the people to vote without fail as it was their responsibility.

Bidar records 5.5% at 9 a.m.; Dakshina Kannada 7.3%

Vishwa Kundapura from Kolar: The rural police in Kolar have arrested four persons on charges of enticing voters on Saturday. They were reportedly distributing nose-rings (moogu natthu) to women voters at an area off NH75 asking to vote for Congress candidate. The police are interrogating the accused.

Ansil Kumar Sastry, Mangaluru: Dakshina Kannada witnessed 7.3% voting by 9 a.m. on Saturday.
Enthusiastic voters lined up in front of booths despite the heavy rains on Friday night. Dakshina Kannada Lok Sabha member Nalin Kumar Kateel exercised his franchise at Lady Hill in Mangaluru.

Kumaraswamy will become CM: Revanna

Special Correspondent from Hassan: “If the Congress comes to power, the State would face drought. I am confident, people will vote for the JD(S) hoping for a good rainy season,” Former Minister and JD(S) leader H.D. Revanna said after casting his vote at Paduvalahippe in Holenarsipur constituency on Saturday.
“The JD(S) would come to power and H.D. Kumaraswamy would become Chief Minister of the State,” Mr. Revanna said. His son Prajwal Revanna seconded his father's statement that if the Congress comes to power the State would face drought.

Rains fail to dampen voters’ spirit

 

After a night of heavy rains, Bengaluru woke up to a cool morning on Saturday. Several voters from across the City reached their polling booths early in the morning to cast their votes in the 2018 Assembly elections.

 

Polling delayed in Udupi

Voting was delayed by an hour at booth no. 186 at Kukkikatte in Udupi Assembly constituency due to technical snag in an EVM. Polling began around 8.10 a.m. after the EVM was replaced.

As there was a delayed start, the BJP demanded extension of polling at the booth by an hour.

Roads damaged in Belagavi

Many voters faced difficulties in approaching a booth in Shva Basava Nagar in Belagavi due damaged and water-logged roads as there were heavy rains in the area on Friday night. A part of the road had been dug up for laying cables under the Smart Cities project.

Deve Gowda casts his vote

 

Former PM H.D. Deve Gowda, accompanied by wife Channamma, son Revanna, daughter-in-law Bhavani Revanna and grandson Prajwal, visited Kodandarama temple next to the booth before exercising their franchise. Earlier in the day, he also visited temples at Holenarsipur, Haradanahalli and Mavinakere.

Mr. Gowda exuded confidence that his parry will come to power and the situation of seeking an alliance will not arise.
After casting his vote at a booth in Paduvalahippe in Holenarsipur constituency Mr. Gowda said, the Congress and the BJP spent had huge money for the elections. “Our party cannot match those parties in terms of resources. If voters support us without heeding to the resources spent, we will win.”
“I know voters of this constituency very well,” he said, adding that he had been with them for the last 50 years.

Faulty EVMs replaced

Special Correspondent from Hassan: Mock polling was conducted after the electronic voting machines (EVMs), Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines and control units were replaced at Paduvalahippe polling booth in Holenarsipur constituency on Saturday morning.

Election officers reached the booth and replaced the machines following complaints of technical glitch in the EVMs. 29 people had already voted by then.

The officers briefed the polling agents that the votes cast earlier would also be accounted for and that the EVMs used earlier would be sealed separately.

The polling was disrupted for nearly 30 minutes.

Staff Reporter from Shivamogga: Polling was stopped for 45 minutes owing to technical glitch in an electronic voting machine (EVM) at a polling station in Shanthi Nagar locality in Shivamogga segment limits.

Kumar Buradikatti from Yadgir: By the time technical problem was noticed, 31 voters had already cast their votes. The polling resumed after the EVM was replaced by the sector officer.

There was a brief halt in voting at Polling Station 7 in Yadgir and polling station 8 in Shorapur due to technical problems. But, voting resumed after a few minutes.

PM, Siddaramaiah and Rahul tweet

On Friday evening, while the Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted in Kannada asking people of Karnataka to vote and participate in the festival of democracy, Chief Minsiter Siddaramaiah urged the people, especially youngsters, to come out and cast their vote and celebrate the festival of democracy. Mr. Siddaramaiah also urged them to remember the progress of the State in the last 5 years.

Meanwhile Congress president Rahul Gandhi, in a tweet on Saturday, welcomed the yougsters who are voting for the first time. The voter turnout is sign of dynamic democracy, he said.

Technical glitch at Paduvalalu and Paduvalahippe

Polling has been delayed at Paduvalalu polling station in Belur constituency due to technical glitch in EVMs. The polling staff have informed the senior officials for replacement of the defective machines. The voters have been asked to wait until then.

Polling has been stopped at Paduvalahippe in Holenarsipur constituency due to a technical issue in the EVMs. Former Prime Minister H.D Deve Gowda and his family members are expected to exercise their franchise at this polling station. Sector officers have reached the spot and replaced the faulty machines around 7:45 a.m. 29 people had voted by then.

Polling has also been delayed at Booth no. 185 in Lamington School of Hubballi after EVMs developed a technical snag.

Voting begins

Voting began in the 222 Assembly constituencies in Karnataka at 7 a.m. on Saturday. People were seen waiting in a long queue at a polling centre in Mysuru.