MLC polls: 6040 voters, 389 polling booths for Dakshina Kannada Local Authorities constituency

Mangaluru: As many as 6,040 voters are eligible to vote in Dakshina Kannada-Udupi Local Authorities’ Constituency for the soon-to-be-held Legislative Councils elections in the state. A total of 389 polling stations are being set up of the 3,535 voters in Dakshina Kannada and 2,505 in the Udupi district.

Several disenfranchised:

As the elections to taluk panchayat, Zilla panchayat, and some municipalities in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi this time the number of votes will be reduced by around 400.

The total number of MLAs, and MPs is 20 in the twin districts. But, as per the election commission’s rules, only 13 MLAs and one MP can actually exercise their choice.

This is so because MPs and MLAs can only vote in Local Authorities’ constituency when they represent any of the local bodies under their jurisdiction. As elections were not held for the taluk and gram panchayats after their term ended, many would not be eligible to vote this time.

Prominent among those missing out are incumbent legislative council member Kota Srinivas Poojary, legislative council member Pratap Chandra Shetty, Byndoor MLA Sukumar Shetty, Kaup MLA Lalaji Mendon, legislative council members Harish Kumar, and Pratap Simha Nayak, and Udupi MP Shobha Karandlaje.

Kota Srinivas Poojary said that the election commission has been approached about giving an opportunity to vote and its direction is awaited.

November 26 is the last date for withdrawal of nominations in the Dakshina Kannada Local Authorities’ constituency. will give a clear picture of the electoral constituency.

A total of 8 candidates, including 4 independents, have filed nominations for the 2 seats that are up for grabs here and one independent candidate’s nomination was rejected during the scrutiny of nominations.