Jamkhandi: The Jamkhandi assembly bypoll recorded a high voter turnout of 74.41 per cent, indicating a close contest between Bharatiya Janata Party‘s Shrikant Kulkarni and Congress candidate Anand Nyamagouda.
The high voting percentage in Jamkhandi city is expected to help the Congress party as it has a large number of voters from the minority community.
Polling was, however, more brisk in rural areas than the urban areas with a large number of farmers from the sugarcane-rich taluk coming out to vote. Saturday’s bypoll also saw several disabled people come to vote as the Election Commission had arranged vehicles to bring them from their homes to the polling booths
The byelection has become a matter of prestige for the Congress as it is trying to retain Jamkhandi while being part of the coalition government heading the state.
Also, Bagalkot district has only two Congress MLAs, including former Chief Minister and senior party leader Siddaramaiah from Badami and the party would like to add to its kitty.
Its candidate, Anand, is banking heavily on the sympathy factor coming to his aid as the bypoll has followed the untimely death of his father, Sidda Nyamagouda, who represented Jamkhandi. Members of the municipal council, which is dominated by the Congress, have worked hard for his victory.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, for its part, has been trying its level best to wrest the seat from the Congress party, with several of its top leaders campaigning in Jamkhandi over the last few weeks.
