More than 75 per cent of polling was recorded in the by-elections to the Legislative Assembly from Nanjangud (reserved) and Gundlupet constituencies in the State on Sunday.
While the voting percentage in Gundlupet was believed to have crossed 75 per cent, officials in Mysuru said the voter turnout in Nanjangud was estimated to be 76.84 per cent at 5 p.m.
However, the voting percentage is expected to increase as polling process continued in at least 10 to 15 polling stations in Nanjangud and Gundlupet beyond the 5 p.m. deadline. Voters, who were standing in the queues outside the polling booth, were allowed to vote, officials said.
Polling was largely peaceful in both the constituencies. Except for mild caning to disperse the crowds gathering near polling stations, no untoward incident was reported from any part of the two constituencies.
The polling officials, however, encountered malfunctioning of Voter Verifiable Print Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines and Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in at least two booths in Nanjangud and six booths in Gundlupet. Polling process was suspended for 30 minutes to one hour till the machines were replaced or rectified.
In Mahadevnagar near Nanjangud, which has more than 600 voters, the residents staged a protest against the absence of a polling booth and threatened to boycott the elections. However, they relented and cast their votes after 3 p.m.
A total of 2.01 lakh voters in Nanjangud and 2.08 lakh voters in Gundlupet were eligible to exercise their franchise.
Former Minister V. Srinivas Prasad, who resigned from the Assembly after being dropped from the Siddaramaiah Ministry, is seeking re-election as a BJP candidate from Nanjangud (Reserved). He is pitted against Congress nominee Kalale Keshavamurthy.
In Gundlupet, former Minister H.S. Mahadev Prasad's wife Geetha Mahadev Prasad is contesting the elections as the Congress candidate against BJP's Niranjan Kumar.
