Karnataka - Bellary   

Polling peaceful in Bellary

BELLARY: Contrary to the fear that Bellary would witness violence during polling, especially after a pre-poll violence was reported on Thursday leading to police registering a case of attempt to murder against the former Minister and BJP leader B. Sriramulu, polling passed off peacefully in the district on Friday.

Moderate to brisk polling was recorded in Bellary district. An estimated 55 to 60 per cent of the total 14.87 lakh electorate exercised their franchise in all the nine Assembly constituencies in the district.

Polling began on a brisk note in the early hours and slowed down in the afternoon, mainly owing to the scorching summer heat. However, it again picked up a couple of hours before polling came to a close. Long queues, especially of women, were seen in front of almost all the polling booths in the city.

B. Sriramulu, who obtained anticipatory bail after Thursday’s incident, Reddy brothers, K.C. Kondaiah and M. Diwakar Babu were prominent among those who cast their votes.

Tight security arrangements had been made at all polling booths. Central paramilitary forces were deployed and constant patrolling was undertaken as a precautionary measure.

Inspector General of Police (Eastern Range) H.N. Satyanarayan Rao camped in the city and supervised the security arrangements in the absence of Superintendent of Police Amrit Paul, who has been transferred as per the recommendation of the Election Commission.

According to Deputy Commissioner and District Returning Officer Arvind Srivastav, polling was by and large peaceful.

There were not many complaints about names of voters missing in the voters’ list, and all care had been taken to ensure that the electronic voting machines functioned properly.

Following is the approximate polling percentage in the constituencies: Hadagali (45), Hagari Bommanahalli (55), Vijayanagar (47), Kampli (62), Sirguppa (59), Bellary (56), Bellary City (45), Sandur (64 )and Kudligi (55) when reports last came in. However, the exact polling percentage is being compiled and expected to be released in the night.

Peter Raymond, Special Observer for the elections, who has been camping in the city since Wednesday, visited the polling stations to oversee the polling process. In booth number 106 in Sriramupuram Colony, when the polling was half way through, Mr. Peter found that the presiding officer had failed to fill up the Form 17 register and take the signature of the voters and reported it to the Election Commission.

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