BBMP polls: A half-hearted Bengaluru comes out to vote
Much awaited election gets only 50 per cent turnout
BENGALURU: Bengaluru’s BBMP polls were literally a wash-out on Saturday as the city streets turned into a sea of mud and sludge and the voter turn-out plummeted to “less than 50%,”as it rained intermittently through the morning and well into the evening.
As political party workers swung into action, persuading people to go to the voting booths, tensions ran high as rival candidates and their supporters attacked each other.
In Rajarajeshwari Nagar, the police arrested five people including the husband of a JD(S) candidate. Yelahanka MLA S. R. Vishwanath roughed up a few JD(S) candidates at Yelahanka Upanagar ward alleging that the candidate Hanumanthegowda’s wife was campaigning at the polling station.
A polling booth at St. Teresa’s Girls School, KR Market wears a deserted look (Photo: KPN)
Former prime minister H. D. Devegowda, not to be left behind staged a dharna in front of the J.B Nagar police station alleging police high-handedness against JD(S) candidate and workers. The most embarrassing aspect of this ‘no-show’ polls were the number of malfunctioning Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and the hundreds of missing names.
Politicians found the perfect excuse for the low voter turnout- the rain gods! Ramalinga Reddy, Bengaluru in charge minister for the Congress government blamed the rain for keeping people away from the polling stations and for sending them out of the city.
Survey gives congress the edge
l Bengaluru: n a day when at least 50 per cent of the city gave the thumbs down to voting, intial exit polls indicate that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's strategic rounds of the city might not go to waste, after all. If television run exit polls and C-voter survey are anything to go by, then Congress may be just two seats short of the magic number 100.
One exit poll predicted, Congress will win a lion's share of 90 to 98 seats out of 197 seats. During the last polls, the party had barely managed to secure 65. Since the BJP has already registered victory in Hongasandra ward, the battle was restricted to 197 wards.
A survey predicted that the BJP will win 83 to 91 seats as against 111 won by the party in 2010. JD(S) is expected to get between 9 and 17. Others will secure eight. Other surveys also give the Congress an edge.