Voting percentage indicates victory for BJP in both seats: Govt assessment

BENGALURU: The voter turnout at the Sira and Rajarajeshwarni Nagar bypolls on Tuesday is an indication of BJP victory in both seats, revealed an internal assessment conducted by the state government. While Sira recorded 82.31 per cent, RR Nagar had 45.24 per cent. 

The assessment stated that the victory margin in both constituencies, where the counting will take place on November 10, could be in the range of 15,000-20,000 votes. While traditionally, lower voter turnout has favoured the Congress, it is different this time in RR Nagar. That is because the voting percentage in Congress pockets, where the minorities live in large numbers, has been abysmal. It could be as low as 15-20 per cent, the assessment pointed out. 

It is alleged that index fingers of both hands of many voters had been inked even before the polling, preventing them from casting their votes on Tuesday. Many scheduled caste and backward community voters in slums have supported the BJP, according to the assessment. In the RR Nagar constituency, BJP candidate N Munirathna is likely to win by a margin of over 20,000 votes, it added.

In Sira, the BJP is looking at polling 75,000-80,000 votes. JDS MLA late B Sathyanarayana polled 74,338 votes in the last election in 2018, and won by a margin of about 10,000 votes. In the election previous to that, Congress candidate T B Jayachandra polled around 74,000 votes and won by 15,000 votes.

This time, the assessment is that both Jayachandra and JDS candidate Ammajamma will not cross the 60,000 vote mark. Sira, which has traditionally picked a Congress or JDS candidate, witnessed full attendance at BJP desks near polling booths, while Congress and JDS had empty benches. 

Minority voters usually back the Congress. But this time, votes of the entire block have not gone in favour of the Congress, the assessment stated.As all the three candidates from the three major parties were Kunchatigas, these votes have split. The Gollas and Kadugollas too have supported the BJP, it stated.