Amid a rainfall alert by the India Meteorological Department, 2,971 booths will go to the Assembly polls in undivided Dakshina Kannada on Wednesday.
Polling will be held in 1,860 stations in Dakshina Kannada and 1,111 booths in Udupi district from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. The elections will be held in 13 constituencies, including eight in Dakshina Kannada and five in Udupi district. Two (Mangaluru City North and Puttur) of the 13 constituencies are witnessing triangular fight while there is a direct fight between the ruling BJP and the Congress in the remaining 11 constituencies.
The candidates of the BJP, the Congress, and the Janata Dal (Secular) are vying with each other in Mangaluru City North. The BJP and the Congress candidates are facing stiff competition from an Independent in Puttur.
Both the BJP and the Congress have fielded seven novices each as part of their strategy to win the elections. In the last elections in 2018, the BJP won 12 seats, leaving one (Mangaluru) to the Congress.
Polling officials moving from a mustering centre at Rosario college towards their respective booths in Mangaluru on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: H.S. MANJUNATH
This is the first Assembly elections where the Election Commission allowed those aged 80 years and above and persons with disabilities, having certificate, to cast their postal ballots from their homes.
According to the Deputy Commissioner and Election Officer of Dakshina Kannada M.R. Ravikumar, the district has a total of 17,81,389 voters as of April 20. Of them, the highest 9,10,314 voters are women and 8,70,991 are men. The total voters also comprised 84 transgenders.
According to the BJP, its State president and Dakshina Kannada Member of Parliament Nalin Kumar Kateel will exercise his franchise at Part No 90 at St. Aloysius English Medium Higher Primary School, Urwa, near Lady Hill Church Hall at 8.30 a.m.
Mangaluru City South candidate and MLA D. Vedavyasa Kamath will vote at the government school in Gandhinagar at 8 a.m. while the Congress candidate in the same constituency and former MLA J.R. Lobo will cast his vote at St. Sebastian Higher Primary School, Bendoor at 7 a.m.
Polling officials left for their respective polling stations from Mangaluru and Udupi on Tuesday morning.
