Bengaluru: The by-election to two BBMP wards — Kaveripura and Sagayapuram ended peacefully on Wednesday, barring a mild caning by police at Kaveripura following a tussle between two groups.
The voter response in both the wards was lukewarm with Kaveripura registering a turnout of 39.34 percent, while in Sagayapuram it was slightly higher at 44.82 percent.
The by-election took place following the demise of deputy mayor Ramila Umashankar, who represented Kaveripura and V Elumalai, a corporator from Sagayapuram.
Voting was peaceful at the Sagayapuram, while in Kaveripura there was some tension following a clash between supporters of BJP and JD(S).
The main contenders in the Kaveripura seat were C. Pallavi of BJP and Susheela, representing Congress-JD(S) coalition.
The tussle began following a heated argument between JD(S) leader Prakash and BJP leader Umesh Reddy, who is also coporator of Govindarajanagar. Police had to resort to mild caning to bring the situation under control.
Reddy along with two other BJP leaders Dasegowda and Mohan Kumar had visited the polling area at Muneshwaranagar in Kaveripura ward to oversee the voting process.
JD(S) leader Prakash, along with his supporters, took objection citing that these leaders cannot come as they are not registered voters of the area. A couple of JS(S) workers got injured during the melee and had to be treated at a private hospital.
Following the incident leaders from both the parties filed complaints and counter-complaints. At Sagayapuram, former hooch queen Marimuthu contested as an independent. All the 31 polling stations in the ward were declared sensitive and hyper sensitive and there was heavy police security. However, polling was peaceful.
Though both the wards witnessed brisk polling during early morning, it later tapered off and many polling stations wore a deserted look later in the day.
