Women outnumber men

UDUPI, May 12, 2018 00:42 IST

Updated: May 12, 2018 00:42 IST

Tight security in place; 34 candidates in fray in five seats

The stage is set for polling in the five Assembly constituencies of Udupi district. Women voters outnumber men in all five constituencies of Udupi, Kaup, Karkala, Byndoor and Kundapur, in the district.

There are 9,93,415 voters in the district, including 5,15,041 women, 4,78,350 men and 24 others.

As many as 34 candidates are in the fray in the five Assembly constituencies.

The highest number of candidates in the fray is in Byndoor, where nine are trying their luck, while the lowest number is in Kaup and Kundapur, where five candidates each are testing their fortune.

Security setup

Elaborate security arrangements have been made to ensure free and fair polling in the district. As many as 2,500 police officers and personnel have been pressed into service for this purpose.

The 2,500 personnel include officers and staff from the district police, Home Guards, three platoons of Karnataka State Reserve Police and 16 companies of Central Para Military Forces including those from Border Security Force, Sashastra Seema Bal, Central Reserve Police Force, and Haryana police.

Of the 1,103 pooling booths in the district, 226 had been categorized as critical, while the remaining 877 booths were classified as normal.

Naxal-hit areas

As many as 54 booths are located in the naxalite-affected areas of district. They come under Karkala, Byndoor and Kundapur constituencies. Each booth in the naxalite-affected area is guarded by personnel of paramilitary forces.

As many as 6,342 polling officials and staff will facilitate the polling process in 1,038 stations in the district.

The mustering and de-mustering centres are: Bhandarkars’ College in Kundapur for Byndoor and Kundapur Assembly constituencies; St. Cecily’s School and PU College for Udupi Assembly Constituency and Kaup Assembly Constituency; and Manjunatha Pai Hall in Karkala for Karkala Assembly Constituency.

The polling officials have taken the Electronic Voting Machines along with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails machines from these mustering and de-mustering centres to the polling booths assigned to them.