Mysuru region puts up a good show with good turnout, less hiccups

Mysuru: Polling was peaceful in south Karnataka on Thursday even as Mandya stole the show with a high-stakes battle between chief minister H D Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil Kumaraswamy and multilingual actor Sumalatha Ambareesh, wife of late actor and former minister M H Ambareesh.
Polling passed off peacefully in Mysuru, Mandya, Chamarajanagar and Hassan segments with stray complaints of missing votes and snag-hit EVMs.

With 66.87% voter turnout on Thursday, Mysuru failed to breach the 2014 figure of 67.21%. The previous highest was 69.74%, recorded in 1985 polls.

Kodagu district, which was battered by floods and landslides in August last year, voted in a big way, helping the Mysuru segment collectively show a good polling figure. The parliamentary constituency comprises both the districts. Such was the enthusiasm that people of Makkandur, who suffered massive damage owing to floods between August 12 and 16, visited booths in big numbers.

In the aftermath of floods and landslides, hundreds of families were evacuated from villages. Many of them are still staying in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Kushalanagar, Madikeri, and Suntikoppa. Many of the voters had come from Emmettal, Mukkodlu and Makkandur villages.

Thanks to the high-stakes battle in the Vokkaliga heartland, Mandya district saw unprecedented security. Sumalatha struck a chord with the electorate, particularly youths and women, who came out in large numbers indicating the groundswell for the independent candidate. On his part, chief minister H D Kumaraswamy led JD(S) workers to vigorously seek votes for his debutant-son Nikhil. The voting percentage in Mandya at 5pm had crossed 70, which is 18% more than the 2018 bypoll figure.

Polling in Hassan was peaceful. It has registered 71.20% voting. Former PM H D Deve Gowda was among the senior leaders who cast their ballot.

With 73.01%, Chamarajanagar constituency recorded highest voter turnout on Thursday. It has surpassed previous election’s turnout of 72.85%. District minister C Puttarangashetty was made to wait for nearly an hour due to the apathy of poll officers and the death of reserve poll official. Doddanne villagers had totally boycotted the elections.

The turnout at Chamarajanagar town was close to 74%, while it was just over 70% in both Nanjangud and Gundlupet assembly segments.

BOX

The efforts of the Mysuru district administration towards conducting SVEEP programme has enhanced the voting percentage across the district. During the previous parliamentary elections in 2014, the percentage was 67.30, while it stood at 68.14% on Thursday.

ZP CEO Jyothi, who led the SVEEP programmes, said: “From the beginning, we created voting awareness programmes. Some of the 1,600 programmes included cylothon, marathon, street plays, walkathon, six selfie-photo points at Mysuru Zoo and other tourists places and various events at Mysuru Palace premises. They seem to have had a good effect on people. Such programmes were not only conducted in Mysuru, but also in other districts like Haveri, Bagalkot and Belagavi. Our aim was to reach nearly 70-75% of voting. But it remained at 68.14%. It’s surprising why people in Mysuru city did not come in large numbers to vote. ”

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Constituency-wise polling %

Madikeri 75

Virajpet 72.23

Periyapatna 78.60

Hunsuru 77.45

Chamundeshwari 71.75

Krishnaraja 60.36

Chamaraja 56

Narasimharaja 59.89

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Overall 68.14

(2014 polls 67.30)