Karnataka Lok Sabha elections 2024 Updates | Total voter turnout at 69.23%

The Electronic Voting Machines were destroyed at a polling station in Indiganatha village in Chamarajanagara district on April 26 during a clash between two groups of people over whether to vote or not in the Lok Sabha elections.

All the furniture inside the polling booth has also been vandalised. “They were not affiliated to any political party but (they complained of) lack of infrastructure development – roads – in the village,” said Additional Chief Electoral Officer (Karnataka), Venkatesh Kumar.

“EVMs have been completely destroyed. Polling officials did not sustain any hurt as they managed to escape. FIR is being filed in this regard. We are getting a detailed report after which the Election Commission will take the call,” he said.

Those involved in the incident have absconded and police are trying to nab them, the officer said. - PTI

Banjarumale, an interior hamlet in Belthangady taluk of Dakshina Kannda district, recorded 100% voting in the Lok Sabha election on April 26.

This hamlet has 111 voters and each one of them turned up at the only polling booth, completing voting two hours before polling ended at 6 p.m.

The hamlet is inhabited by forest dwellers, tribal farmers and collectors of minor forest waste. Despite having no power or transport connectivity, the people survive in the forest using water from the perennial water sources in the hills of the Western Ghats. - PTI

Karnataka records 63.90% voter turnout at 5 pm, according to Election Commission of India.

Voter turnout in Bengaluru Lok Sabha constituencies:

Bengaluru Rural - 61.78%

Bengaluru Central - 48.61%

Bengaluru South - 49.37%

Bengaluru North - 50.04%

Trouble started when a group of BJP leaders came out of the booth and allegedly abused the Congress workers present outside. The Congress workers retaliated, leading to a heated argument. The situation worsened when both the groups tried to attack each other. Police personnel at the spot intervened and pacified the two sides. 

Several members of the Kannada film fraternity turned up at polling booths across Bengaluru to cast their votes. They also uploaded the images on their social media, encouraging millions of their followers to exercise their franchise. 

Here’s a look at the star-studded turnout, in pictures.

Karnataka records 50.93% voter turnout at the 3 pm mark, according to ECI data. Dakshina Kannada leads voter turnout percentage in the State with 58.76% polling percentage till now.

Voter turnout in Bengaluru LS constituencies:

Bengaluru Central - 40.10%

Bengaluru South - 40.77%

Bengaluru North - 41.12%

Several young brides made it a point to turn up at the polling booths and cast their votes, before heading to the wedding halls on April 26, 2024.

Sowmya, a resident of Kundur in Mudigere taluk, Hrithika from Gopadi near Kundapura and Spandana of Kutagodu village in Sringeri taluk exercised their franchise earlier today. 

In Electronic City, Bengaluru voters endured queues lasting over two hours due to crowded polling stations. According to residents, the Election Commission and authorities failed to adequately arrange facilities for a smoother voting experience. 

Pranay Dubey, President of Electronic City Rising, told The Hindu that at the Doddanagamangala polling station, people stood in line for hours under the scorching heat. Electronic City Rising also posted a video of people standing in long queues on X. 

“Many returned home due to the lengthy queues. This isn’t the first time; similar situations occurred during last year’s Assembly polls. Such experiences deter voting. The Election Commission needs to enhance resources and streamline the voting process for citizens,” Mr. Dubey added.

Voter turnout has picked up across the 14 constituencies that have gone to polls in Karnataka after noon, according to polling officials. 

While the State recorded a 38.23% turnout at 1 p.m., Dakshin Kannada recorded a 48.10%. Mandya and Mysore recorded a 40.70% and 41.58% voter turnout at 1 p.m. respectively.

While the early hours of the morning saw large crowds thronging to polling stations, the rising summer temperatures kept most voters away as noon approached. Those who visited the polling stations in the afternoon reported that they cast their vote in no time with thin turnout. It remains to be seen if the turnout will pick up towards the evening, when temperatures decline.

Complaints of missing names from voters’ lists surfaced again during the Lok Sabha elections. In a polling booth in Indiranagar, a woman was seen making frantic calls and approaching the polling officials in a huff after she found that her mother’s name had gone missing. 

In the Indian election process, the indelible ink stands out as a symbol of participation and integrity. 

An article dated July 19, 1951, says President Rajendra Prasad gave assent to the Representation of People Bill, the main electoral legislation. The article also says that each voter will be marked with an indelible ink on his or her thumb.

But did you know that since 1962, the indelible ink has been manufactured by the Mysore Paints and Varnish Ltd in Mysuru, Karnataka? Watch this video to know how the ink is made. 

Timely cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) by Ganesh Srinivasa Prasad, a nephrologist at Narayana Health, saved the life of a woman who complained of giddiness before collapsing at a polling centre in Jumbo Savari Dinne at J.P. Nagar 8th Phase in Bengaluru on April 26.

The woman, in her mid-fifties, was standing in the queue to vote when she complained of giddiness. She tried to take some water from the can kept in the booth, but complained of breathlessness and collapsed even before drinking the water.

The Hindu, after physically verifying the guarantee card distributed by the Congress in Ramanagara, has found that it was disbursed during a door-to-door campaign. The QR code on the card leads to a video of Congress candidate from Bengaluru Rural D.K. Suresh. 

A BJP worker had alleged that the serial numbers are mentioned in the card to take count and in return, freebies will be given after voting.

Read more

Reacting to the allegation of H.D. Kumaraswamy regarding Congress distributing gift coupons to voters, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said: “We are distributing manifesto card. What cards are being distributed by Mr. Kumaraswamy and R.R. Nagar MLA Muniratna? Shall I show what BJP and JD(S) workers are distributing? I don’t have those things in my pocket, otherwise I would have shown it. Mr. Kumaraswamy has no shame. This shows that they are scared of losing. Like a coward, he has made his brother-in-law stand in Bengaluru Rural and he has run away from the electoral battle.”

Read more about the accusations made by JD(S).

Crowds have begun to thin at most booths that saw long queues in the early hours of polling on April 26. In booths where it took over an hour to cast the votes, voters are now almost having a walk-in into the booths. 

“I had come to vote in the morning around 8 a.m. and found a long queue. It may have taken over an hour for me to vote then, so I went back and came at 11 a.m. and voted in less than 10 minutes,” said Mohammed Irshad, a voter in MS Palya, Byatarayanapura assembly constituency.

The FST of Chickballapur has seized cash worth ₹4.8 crores. An FIR also has been lodged by the SST team of Chickballapur constituency against BJP Candidate from the seta K. Sudhakar, on April 25 at Madanayakanahally police station, the CEO Karnataka said on its X handle this morning.

Read more

Accusing the Election Commission of not ensuring transparency in parliamentary elections in Bengaluru Rural constituency, former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy alleged that the Congress candidate had distributed gift coupons with QR code to voters.

The coupons are in the name of Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, his brother and Bengaluru Rural candidate D.K. Suresh, Kunigal MLA Ranganath, Magadi MLA H.C. Balakrishna, Ramanagar MLA Iqbal Hussein, MLC Puttanna and Congress leader Kusuma Hanumanthaiah. 

The Bengaluru Rural constituency is one of two seats where the ECI has taken up webcasting of the Lok Sabha elections in all polling booths to ensure there is no room for poll-related malpractices.

Congress candidate from Bengaluru North M.V. Rajeev Gowda after casting his vote on April 26, 2024. The first time Lok Sabha candidate is pitted against former Union Minister and senior BJP leader Shobha Karandlaje. 

Congress has not won a Lok Sabha seat in Bengaluru city after 1999. The BJP has won all the Lok Sabha seats in the city since 2004 — two seats in 2004, and three since 2009 after delimitation of seats in 2008.

This has been the case even when Congress outdid the BJP in Assembly polls thrice — 2004, 2013 and 2018 — indicating a schism in voter’s preferences in Bengaluru for the State and Centre. Read more.

Voters had to stand for more than an hour in queue at booth Number 39 at Pinewood English Medium School at Amarjyothinagar in Vijayanagar in Bengaluru to exercise their franchise early in the morning on April 26.

Voters attributed the long wait to uneven distribution of voters among two booths.

Read more.

Nonagenerian and former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda after casting his vote at Paduvalahippe village in Holenarasipur taluk. 

Three members of his immediate family - son H.D. Kumaraswamy, grandson Prajwal Revanna and son-in-law Dr. C.N. Manjunath - are in the fray in the Lok Sabha elections. 

A scuffle broke out near a polling booth in Mangaluru City South assembly constituency of the Dakshina Kannada LS seat when a few people, said to be BJP workers, objected to the Congress candidate speaking to the media near the booth on Friday, April 26.

The incident occurred near the Capitanio School that hosts about 12 polling stations. A few persons objected to Congress candidate Padmaraj R. Poojary speaking to the media near the school. They also exchanged heated words with the police who intervened to defuse the situation.

Bengaluru saw a good turnout early as the voting got underway. The three Bengaluru Lok Sabha constituencies are among those that reported low voter turnout. The celebrities who turned up to cast their votes in Bengaluru included wel-known cricketer and Team India coach Rahul Dravid, Infosys Founder N.R. Narayanmurthy, his wife and Rajya Sabha member Sudha Murty. 

Many politicians, including Bengaluru South BJP candidate Tejaswi Surya, BJP candidate in Bengaluru North Shobha Karandlaje, former Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, former Deputy Chief Minister C.N. Ashwath Narayan and Power Minister K.J. George also cast their vote. Read more.

Yaduveer Wadiyar, BJP candidate from Mysuru was accompanied by his mother Pramoda Devi Wadiyar and wife, Trishika.

Pramoda Devi wadiyar, Yadhuveer, and Trishika after voting.Photo. Credit: M. A. Sriram

Yaduveer Wadiyar is the 27th and current Custodian of the Royal House of Mysore, also known as the Wadiyars of Mysore. He is the great-grandson of Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar and was given the title of the Maharaja of Mysore in 2015. He replaced incumbent MP Pratap Simha as the BJP candidate.

Prajwal Revanna is the incumbent Member of Parliament representing the Hassan constituency. He is contesting the general election as a part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). He is the grandson of the former Prime Minister of India H. D. Deve Gowda. 

All is set for the 18th Lok Sabha elections with 1,876 polling stations in Dakshina Kannada and 1,842 booths in Udupi-Chikkamagaluru constituencies going to the polls on Friday, April 26. 

Nine candidates are in the fray in Dakshina Kannada, and 10 candidates are contesting in Udupi-Chikkamagaluru with both the constituencies witnessing a direct fight between the Congress and the BJP. 

According to M.P. Mullai Muhilan, Returning Officer and Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada, in all, 11,255 polling personnel have been deployed for the smooth conduct of elections. In addition, there will be security persons on duty.

Actor Prakash Raj on April 26 exercised his franchise, at a polling station in Karnataka capital Bengaluru during the second phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha Elections.

“I have voted for the candidate I believe in and to the manifesto they have brought in and for the change, because of the hatred and divisive politics we have seen in the last decade,” he said after casting his vote.

An Assistant Professor of Government College in Balmatta, Chandrika Nayak, has discharged polling duty in different capacities during the last six years. This is the first time she is on duty as the presiding officer of polling booth no. 143 at Government High School at Attavar in the city, where only persons with disabilities (all officials) will manage polling.

Vasant Raj, a Junior Engineer with the Public Works Department, is the Assistant Presiding Officer (APRO) in the same booth. J. Dorothy, the in-charge Head Master of Government Primary School in Mallikatte, and Dakshayini, a typist in the Regional Transport Department, are the polling officers in the same booth that has about 800 voters.

On the eve of polling for the Lok Sabha elections, bus stands in Bengaluru were filled with people wanting to go to their home towns to cast their vote in the districts which go to the polls on April 26.

While the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) operated buses on demand, private operators deployed hundreds of extra buses, especially to Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts.

“We have reservation only for buses that go to Mangaluru. As the election is happening in two phases, we have not particularly deployed extra buses. The demand is only for places in South Karnataka, excluding Shivamogga and Davangere. Hence, buses will be running as per demand,” said a senior official from the KSRTC. Some BMTC buses have also been deployed for the movement of election officials.

Karnataka comprises 28 seats that are divided into 14 constituencies for each of the phases. While the second phase will see the southern parts of the State exercising their franchise, the third phase will be seeing the northern parts.

Phase two (scheduled on April 26, 2024): Udupi Chikmagalur, Hassan, Dakshina Kannada, Chitradurga, Tumkur, Mandya, Mysore, Chamarajanagar, Bangalore Rural, Bangalore North, Bangalore Central, Bangalore South, Chikkballapur and Kolar

Seats in Bengaluru mostly record the lowest turnout in the State. As the city goes to polls on Friday (April 26), will this change, is the moot question. 

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Bengaluru North, Bengaluru Central, and Bengaluru South recorded a turnout of 54.66%, 54.28%, and 53.47%, respectively, while Bengaluru Rural registered 64.9%. Turnout in urban and rural seats has mostly been less than the State average.

This time, the four Bengaluru seats combined have 1,06,54,390 voters, of whom 54.67 lakh are male voters, 51.85 lakh are female voters, and 1,779 are of other genders. Of them, 1.49 lakh are young voters, most of whom will be exercising their franchise for the first time.

Polling for the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections, covering 12 States and one Union Territory, and 89 constituencies, will begin on 7 a.m. on April 26. 

All 20 seats of Kerala will go to polls besides 14 of the 28 seats in Karnataka, 13 seats in Rajasthan, 8 seats each in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, 6 seats in Madhya Pradesh, 5 seats each in Assam and Bihar, 3 seats each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, and 1 seat each in Manipur, Tripura and Jammu and Kashmir.

All is set for the 18th Lok Sabha elections with 1,876 polling stations in Dakshina Kannada and 1,842 booths in Udupi-Chikkamagaluru constituencies going to the polls on Friday, April 26.

The polling will be held from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Nine candidates are in the fray in Dakshina Kannada, and 10 candidates are contesting in Udupi-Chikkamagaluru with both the constituencies witnessing a direct fight between the Congress and the BJP.

On the eve of polling for the Lok Sabha elections, bus stands in Bengaluru were filled with people wanting to go to their home towns to cast their vote in the districts which go to the polls on Friday. While the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) operated buses on demand, private operators deployed hundreds of extra buses, especially to Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts. 

“We have reservation only for buses that go to Mangaluru. As the election is happening in two phases, we have not particularly deployed extra buses. The demand is only for places in South Karnataka, excluding Shivamogga and Davangere. Hence, buses will be running as per demand,” said a senior official from the KSRTC. Some BMTC buses have also been deployed for the movement of election officials.

Dakshina Kannada and Udupi-Chikkamagaluru constituencies, which go to the 18th Lok Sabha polls on Friday, April 26, have remained free from dynasty politics since they came into being.

None of the family members of former four-time Members of Parliament from Dakshina Kannada B. Janardhana Poojary (Congress) and V. Dhananjaya Kumar (now no more) of BJP and three-time Member of Parliament Nalin Kumar Kateel (BJP) ventured into politics to face the Lok Sabha elections in the constituency following their absence in the election battle.

Kanasageri is a small village with an enchanting name that translates to “lane of dreams.” It lies within a few kilometres of the Kadabagatti hills in Gokak in Belagavi district that are famous for the sandalwood forest raised by the Forest Department. It is a new moon night and dark all around as there is no power supply. Most people are sleeping in their courtyards to beat the heat. 

“We are used to this,” says Beerappa Tavag, an octogenarian sheep rearer. Children walk to Urubinahatti village for a school, while the young climb up the hill to go to colleges in Gokak.

The District Election Office (DEO) in Bengaluru Urban has carried out several activities to boost voter turnout in the three Lok Sabha constituencies which have traditionally recorded average voting percentages. The election office devised macro- and micro-level SVEEP (Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation) activities to influence voters to come out in large numbers, on Friday.

The DEO has directed companies to sanction leave to voters on the polling day, failing which action will be initiated. The Labour Department has been instructed to shut down offices working on Friday. Hoteliers have also been asked to allow workers to exercise their franchise.

The Congress’ victory in the 2023 Assembly election in Karnataka was a difficult pill for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to swallow, especially since the grand old party had secured its biggest vote share in 34 years. Then the Congress decided to implement its five guarantees: free bus rides for women, ₹2,000 a month to each woman-headed household, free electricity up to 200 units, 10 kg of rice, and guarantees for the young and unemployed. But above all, the Siddaramaiah government has wrested control of the police. It has lost no opportunity to remind the police to return to the impartiality to which they are committed and literally shed their orange tinge (in two police stations, Kaup and Vijayapura, the police donned saffron for Vijayadashami). In short, the government has honoured its commitment to the Constitution both by offering welfare schemes and by protecting all citizens equally.

To ensure people do not face any hassle in locating their polling booths in locations where more than three booths are clustered, the Election Commission has set up voter facilitation counters to assist people. This is one of the strategies adopted by the Commission to deal with urban apathy and to increase voter turnout.

The voter facilitation counters will be like a help desk for people to locate their booth in the cluster. 

In entire Karnataka, 3,415 locations have multiple polling booths.

The State of Karnataka is set to witness the 18th Lok Sabha elections in two phases, as announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI). The two phases of voting are set to occur in the second and third phases of the General Election, scheduled on April 26 and May 7 respectively.

Join Bageshree S., Resident Editor, Karnataka, in a conversation with senior journalists from The Hindu as they examine the intricacies of the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections 2024 in Karnataka. In this discussion, B.S. Satish Kumar, Nagesh Prabhu, Sharath S. Srivatsa, Laiqh A. Khan and Raviprasad Kamila will give their perspectives on the political landscape and key issues at play.

In between hectic campaign schedules for the Lok Sabha elections 2024, candidates and senior leaders from across political parties, including the Congress as well as alliance partners BJP and JD(S), along with new and prominent Independent faces, sit down for an exclusive chat with The Hindu. The series features both text and video interviews.