Phase 2 polling under way in Karnataka’s remaining 14 LS seats

Bengaluru, April 23

Polling is under way in the remaining 14 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka, where the contest is between the ruling Congress-JD(S) combine and the BJP. 

Polling began at 7 am in 28,022 polling stations that are mostly in the northern belt of the state, covering the entire Hyderabad-Karnataka and Mumbai-Karnataka regions, a couple of central districts and coastal Uttara Kannada. 

Queues were seen at polling booths as the voting began, with many arriving to vote early in the day to avoid the summer heat. 

As many as 2,43,03,279 voters are eligible to choose their representatives from among 237 candidates--227 men and 10 women--who are in the fray.

At 57, Belgaum has the maximum candidates, while Raichur (5) has the lowest.

Out of the total 2,43,03,279 voters on the 14 seats, there are 1,22,55,590 men, 1,20,45,667 women and 2,022 others. 

A total of 33,626 Control Units, 48,394 Ballot Units  and 35,028 VVPATs are being used for the polls.

A total of 2,03,591 polling personnel--including 1,43,580 poll officials, 34,548 police personnel, 5,407 transport personnel and 20,056 other personnel will be on duty. 

The police have made elaborate security arrangements to avoid any untoward incidents.

The BJP has considerable presence in the region and is aiming to improve its tally banking on the ‘Modi wave’ and the support of dominant Lingayat community, considered as its vote base. 

For the Congress-JD(S) alliance, it is a high-stake battle as their performance is likely to have a bearing on the coalition government headed by HD Kumaraswamy.

The prominent contestants in the second phase include Congress leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge (Gulbarga) Union Ministers Ananth Kumar Hegde (Uttara Kannada) and Ramesh Jigajinagi (Bijapur). 

Besides, state BJP chief BS Yeddyurappa’s son BY Raghavendra is pitted against another former chief minister S Bangarappa’s son Madhu Bangarappa of the JD(S) from Shimogga while Pradesh Congress Working president Eshwar Khandre is seeking election from Bidar. PTI