BJP, Congress to face off in Basavakalyan bypoll

BASAVAKALYAN (BIDAR): The district administration has made all arrangements for the smooth conduct of the Basavakalyan Assembly bypoll from 7 am to 7 pm on Saturday. Polling officers from Bidar taluk were taken to the Basavakalyan grounds early in the morning, and after the mustering process, they were sent to their respective polling booths.

In all, 1,568 personnel, including presiding officers, assistant presiding officers, polling officers and 26 sector officers, are involved in the process. Of the 326 polling booths in the constituency, 95 have been identified as sensitive and additional security has been deployed there.  The constituency comprises 23,9782 voters — 1,24,984 men, 1,14,794 women and four others.

This includes 3,547 first-time voters — 1,384 men and 2,163 women. In all, 12 candidates are in the fray, including Shwwarana Salgar of BJP, Mala B Narayana Rao of the Congress, Syed Yasrab Ali Qadri of JDS and independent Mallikarjun Khuba. Though it seems there would be a quadrangular fight in the constituency, it may finally boil down to a straight fight between BJP and Congress.