Final phase of polling concludes in Karnataka

The third and final phase of polling for the ensuing assembly elections in Karnataka concluded yesterday with an estimated 60 per cent of the 11.7 million voters exercising their franchise across eight districts in the northern parts of the state.

A total of 699 candidates including political heavy weights like Congress party’s chief minister-in-waiting M Mallikarjun Kharge and former Chief Minister Dharam were in the fray in the 69 assembly constituencies that went to polls in the Hyderabad-Karnatak and Bombay-Karnatak regions of the state.

Except for minor skirmishes between Congress and BJP workers in parts of Gulbarga, the election process remained largely trouble-free, police said.

Brisk voting was witnessed in the early part of the day with people queuing outside polling stations in the morning hours to avoid the scorching heat later in the day.

About 58,000 security personnel, including central forces, were deployed across the 12,389 polling booths in the districts of Belgaum, Bagalkot, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Koppal, Gadag, Haveri and Dharwad.

Additional security was in place in the communally sensitive Hubli town and Belgaum during the polling process.

A high voltage campaign was witnessed ahead of the third phase of polls in Karnataka with a number of national leaders from Congress as well as BJP addressing election rallies in different parts of the State. Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, besides BJP leaders L K Advani and Narendra Modi campaigned for the victory of their respective parties in the third phase of the polls, considered to be crucial for the outcome of the elections.

The first phase of polling was held in 89 assembly constituencies in south Karnataka on May 10 while the second phase covered covered 66 constituencies in central Karnataka on May 16. The counting of votes for all the 224 assembly constituencies in the state is scheduled to be taken up on May 25.