The Hindu : Front Page : High voter turnout, peaceful polling in naxal-hit districts

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High voter turnout, peaceful polling in naxal-hit districts

Special Correspondents

Voting held in 12,271 booths across 10 districts

Naxal-infested segments, including Karkala and Sringeri, recorded 70 p.c. and 68 p.c. polling
The former Chief Ministers, B.S. Yeddyurappa and S. Bangarappa, were in the fray on Friday

LONG QUEUE: Voters waiting at a polling booth in Togarsi in Shimoga district on Friday.

BANGALORE: Polling was peaceful and a high turnout was recorded in all the naxal-affected constituencies and districts in the second phase of elections in the State held on Friday. Hebri in Udupi district witnessed a naxal attack on Thursday resulting in the death of two people.

Chief Electoral Officer M.N. Vidyashankar said, “Polling was peaceful in the entire naxal-affected region.” The naxal-affected district of Udupi recorded 68 per cent polling while Chikmagalur recorded 63 per cent voting. As much as 60 per cent voters exercised their franchise in Shimoga district.

The naxal-affected constituencies such as Karkala and Sringeri recorded 70 per cent and 68 per cent turnout, respectively.

The former Chief Ministers, B.S. Yeddyurappa and S. Bangarappa, and the former Ministers, D.B. Chandre Gowda and K.S. Eshwarappa, were in the fray in these naxal-affected districts. Special security arrangements had been made in the naxal-infested areas in Udupi, Shimoga and Chikmagalur districts, where CPI (Maoists) had given a call for poll boycott.

In Bellary

Sources in the Government told The Hindu that but for the steps taken by the top police brass, the Bellary police would have boycotted poll-related security work as a mark of protest over the sudden transfer of the district Superintendent of Police Amrit Paul.

Senior police officers at the police headquarters here reportedly prevailed upon the district police from taking any direct action. The order directing the Superintendent of Police to move out of the district overnight was also looked at by the Bellary police as “humiliation”.

The quick action was the outcome of an order of the Election Commission based on reports received from the election observer.

Nearly 56,000 security personnel, including those of the Anti-Naxal Force, were deployed in the 10 districts where polling was held. As many as 590 candidates, including 128 independents, were in the contest in the second phase.

Polling was held in 12,271 booths in Raichur, Koppal, Uttara Kannada, Bellary, Chitradurga, Davangere, Shimoga, Udupi, Chikmagalur and Dakshina Kannada districts. Over 76 per cent of voters in the 10 districts had Elector Photo Identity Card (EPIC).

A majority of voters boycotted elections at a booth in Holalkere constituency in Chitradurga upset over the poor quality of development works undertaken at the place.

At Hiriyur in the same district, polling was suspended for some time when a man, who was said to be in an inebriated condition, smashed the control unit of the electronic voting machine (EVM). Nineteen EVMs developed snags and polling was disrupted for a few hours at various booths in different constituencies.

In Bellary city, the Election Commission replaced the presiding officer of a booth with another as he did not follow mandatory procedures.

Asked about an incident wherein a nine-year-old boy in Koppal was in possession of a photo identity card, Mr. Vidyashankar said the Deputy Commissioner had been instructed to verify it.

The police have seized cash and illegally stored goods, including liquor, worth Rs. 42 crore in various districts so far.

The Election Commission has served a notice on the former Chief Minister, M. Veerappa Moily, for holding a press conference at a polling booth in a school in Hubli city which will go to the polls in the third phase on May 22. The Election Commission issued the notice to Mr. Moily based on a complaint by the Returning Officer, Mr. Vidyashankar said.

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