It’s now official. Saturday witnessed an all-time record voters’ turnout with 72.36 % of the 5.06 crore electorate exercising their franchise.
As many as 15 general Assembly elections (including the one held on Saturday) were held in Karnataka and the previous highest polling was witnessed 40 years back in 1978, with a voters’ turnout of 71.9%.
The 2013 polls had witnessed 71.45% of the electorate turning out at the polling booths.
According to the updated statistics provided by the Election Commission of India, Hoskote constituency in Bengaluru Rural district, where political greenhorn and son of former minister son B N Bachche Gowda, Sharath Gowda, has locked horns with MTB Nagaraj of the Congress, recorded the highest polling with 89.97%.
At the other end of the spectrum, Dasarahalli in Bengaluru Urban recorded the lowest with a mere 48.03% turnout.
In fact, the bottom five constituencies voters’ turnout-wise fall within Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limits or Bengaluru Urban.
A good voter turnout is attributed to many reasons by political analysts, including that it could be an indication of the electorate voting for a change. At the same time, the CI undertook a slew of measures to encourage more people, especially youth, to participate in the electoral process. However, voters in Bengaluru continued to be apathetic.
Among the key constituencies, Chamundeshwari, where chief minister Siddaramaiah is pitted against G T Deve Gowda of the JD(S) witnessed (76.05%); Channapatna, where JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy is in a triangular fight with C P Yogeeshwara (BJP) and H M Revanna (Congress) witnessed 85.86% and Shikaripura where BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa is in fray recorded 81.45%.
In Badami, where Siddaramaiah is contesting his second seat against B Sriramulu of the BJP, witnessed 74.65% of the voters exercising their franchise.
The single-phase polling was held for 222 of the 224 Assembly constituencies in the state.
The election for the Jayanagar seat in Bengaluru was countermanded following the death of BJP candidate and sitting MLA B N Vijaykumar. The Election Commission also deferred the polls for Rajarajeswari Nagar constituency to May 28 after a massive row erupted over a large number of voter ID cards being found in an apartment.