56.5 pc polling till 3 PM in Chincholi, Kundgol

Bengaluru: An estimated 56.5 per cent of the over 3.8 lakh electorate exercised their franchise till 3 PM in the bypolls to Chincholi and Kundgol assembly constituencies.

The polls were by and large peaceful except for some snags reported in VVPATs, which were changed.

There were reports of EVMs developing problems in Chikkanarthi and Yalaguppi in Kundgol.

However, the joint chief electoral officer A V Surya Sen refuted them and said 10 VVPATs in Chincholi and 2 VVPATs in Kundgol were changed.

“No snags or stoppage of elections anywhere. All (complaints) were attended to,” he said.

The bypolls are crucial for both the ruling Congress-JD(S) alliance and the opposition BJP with the latter maintaining that a victory for it would boost its numbers in the assembly and have political implications.

The Chincholi bypoll was necessitated by the resignation of Umesh Jadhav, who quit Congress and joined BJP to contest the recent Lok Sabha polls from Gulbarga, while Kundgol seat fell vacant following the death of Minister C S Shivalli.

There are a total of 17 candidates in the fray in Chincholi and eight in Kundgol segments.

The main contest would be between the nominees of the Congress, supported by JDS, and the BJP.

BJP has fielded S I Chikkanagowdar and Umesh Jadhav’s son Avinash Jadhav from Kundgol and Chincholi assembly seats respectively.

The Congress candidates are Subash Rathod in Chincholi and Kusumavathi, wife of Shivalli, in Kundgol.

There are a total of 1,93,869 voters in Chincholi, while Kundgol has 1,89,444 voters.

Voting is on in 455 polling stations (241 in Chincholi and 214 in Kundgol), where 695 Control Units, 1,051 Ballot Units, 916 VVPATs are being used.

The election results would have its bearing in the coalition government, where both Congress and JD(S) leaders have been airing their differences publicly.

There has also been a growing clamour within Congress for its leader Siddaramaiah to become Chief Minister once again.