An estimated 20 to 25 per cent of the voters cast their votes in the nine Assembly constituencies in Gulbarga district by 11.30 am on Sunday.
Braving sweltering heatwave conditions large number of people waited for their turn in the polling booths to exercise their franchise. The reports reaching the district headquarters said that the polling was brisk in all the nine constituencies. In majority of the polling booths, women outnumbered men in casting their votes first.
As per the reports there were no untoward incident reported in any of the nine assembly constituencies. The polling was brisk in Chitapur Assembly Constituency (Res) and Jewargi Asswembly constituency where Priyank Kharge, son of Union Minister M. Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Singh, son of former Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh, MP are contesting on Congress tickets respectively.
While Chitapur and Jewargi Assembly constituencies reported more than 20 per cent polling by 11.00 am, polling was more than 25 per cent by 11.30 am in Gulbarga South, which is witnessing a multi-cornered contest.
In the Gulbarga North Assembly constituency where former Minister Qamarul Islam is seeking a re-election on Congress ticket, the polling was reported to be heavy, particularly in the Muslim-dominated areas.
In Gulbarga Rural assembly constituency where Animal Husbandry Minister Revu Naik Belamgi of BJP is contesting, the polling was brisk right from the morning and more than 25 per cent of the voters had cast their votes by 11.30 am.
In the polling booth Number 218 in the industrial township of Shahabad coming under the Gulbarga Rural Assembly constituency 222 voters out of the total 745 voters had cast their votes by 11.15 AM and in the polling booth Number 220, out of the total 937 voters, till 11.30 am as many as 262 voters had cast their votes.
In Saraswati School Pooling booth in Maka Layout coming Gulbarga South Assembly Constituency, about 30 voters had wrongly received postal ballots meant only for those government employees drafted for the polling duties. They were allowed to vote after obtaining written undertaking by the presiding officers at the polling station. The polling was reported to be peaceful in Aland Assembly Constituency, which witnessed violent pre-poll clashes between JD(S) and KJP workers.
