Barring a few instances of scuffles between supporters of candidates, the polling for the gram panchayats in the districts of Haveri, Gadag and Dharwad concluded peacefully.
Following a change in the symbol of one candidate in Shivajinagar ward in Chabbi Gram Panchayat of Shirahatti taluk of Gadag district, the District Election Officer has ordered repolling, while in Haveri district Deputy Commissioner and Election Officer M. Manjunath Naik has suspended a teacher of Government Urdu School at Savanaur, R.M. Peerjade, for involving himself in canvassing despite being a government servant.
While polling started as per the scheduled time, it did not conclude at 5 p.m. in some villages as voters arrived at the last minute to cast their votes and in some villages sudden downpour was also the reason for late arrival of the voters.
In Dharwad in around twelve villages, the polling went on till 7 p.m., Deputy Commissioner Rajendra Cholan said.
According to the official sources, Haveri recorded an average polling percentage of 80.75 per cent. Deputy Commissioner of Gadag N.S. Prasannakumar said that the average polling percentage in the district was likely to be around 80 per cent.
He said the repolling for one ward in Chabbi Gram Panchayat would be held on May 31.
Polls after
three decades
In Belagavi, the decision of some youths forced a contest in the Kargaon Gram Panchayat of Chikkodi taluk, a departure from the 30-year-long precedent of unopposed elections.
The 16-member gram panchayat had never witnessed polling in any gram panchayat election during the last three decades and its members were elected unopposed on consensus from the residents of the three villages of Kargaon, Donwad and Hanchinal K.K. under the panchayat.
T.T. Patil, a resident of Kargaon, told presspersons that the villagers had been avoiding contests to keep unhealthy politics at bay. In the past, the use of money and liquor had reportedly become rampant in elections and political rivalry hampered development work.
Incidentally, the voters of Bekkinkeri and Atiwad villages under the Bekkinkeri Gram Panchayat cast their votes in the gram panchayat polls after 23 years. They had been electing members to the panchayat unopposed until now.
No incidents
In Vijayapura, the elections were conducted peacefully, with no reports of untoward incidents even in hyper-sensitive areas.
Until the last report, more than 70 per cent of polling was complete in the district. Election was held for 206 GPs to elect 3,378 candidates, while 9,969 contestants testing their political fortune.
Deputy Commissioner D. Randeep said, “We had a peaceful election with no disturbing news from any part of the district.” To a question, he said no extension was given to election timings due to rain. Some parts of the district received good rainfall on Friday evening.
A total of 527 members got elected unopposed in the district. Three GPs where all the members got elected unopposed are: Salotagi — all 34 members elected unopposed; Padanur — all 12 members; and Umarani — all 23 members.
