69% average voting in Karnataka's 2 Assembly by-polls

 An average of 69 per cent voting was registered in by-elections for Karnataka's two Assembly segments - Chincholi and Kundgol - till 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, a poll official said.

"Around 65 per cent was recorded in Chincholi and 73 per cent in Kundgol. As voters were still in queue when polling officially ended at 6:00 p.m., the voting percentage is likely to go up finally," poll official G. Jadiyappa told IANS.

Inspite of a hot day, polling picked up in the afternoon to record 54 per cent in Chincholi and 60 per cent in Kundgol by 3:00 p.m.

"Voting has been by and large peaceful under tight security, barring a few complaints of glitches in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) delaying or holding up the election process in a few polling booths in both the Assembly constituencies," said the official.

Of the total 241 booths in the two Assembly constituencies, 60 were declared critical in Chincholi and 25 in Kundgol.

"A total of 1,016 polling and police personnel were deployed for security," added the official.

Of the total 3.83 lakh electorate, 1,93,869 are in Chincholi and 1,89,313 in Kundgol.

As many as 25 candidates, including four women are in the fray for the twin by-polls. There are 17 candidates in Chincholi in Kalaburagi district and eight in Kundgol in Dharwad district.

Prominent candidates for Chincholi are Avinash Umesh Jadhav of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Subhash V. Rathod of the Congress and Gautam Bomnalli of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

Avinash is the son of former Congress MLA Umesh Jadhav whose resignation from the seat necessitated the by-election.

In Kundgol, Congress candidate Kusumavati Channabasappa is pitted against S.I. Chikkanagoudar of the BJP. The remaining six, including a woman, are independent candidates.

The death of Congress Minister for Municipalities C.S. Shivalli on March 22 necessitated the Kundgol by-poll. The Congress has fielded his widow Kusumavati to retain the seat on a sympathy vote.

A three-time legislator, Chikkanagoudar lost to Shivalli by a narrow margin of 633 votes in the May, 2018 Assembly election.

Counting of votes will take place on May 23, along with 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state for which polling was held in two phases on April 18 and April 23.
IANS