The gram panchayat election on Friday was peaceful in Hassan, barring one incident of poll boycott by the residents of a village in Channarayapatna taluk, following the death of two persons in an accident there.
The response of voters in parts of Belur and Arsikere taluks was poor. However, in other areas, a large number of voters were standing in long queues for exercising their franchise.
As reported earlier, residents of many villages in Belur and Arsikere taluks had boycotted the gram panchayat election for the alleged delay in completing drinking water supply and irrigation projects.
In some places, progressive organisations had appealed to voters not to take part in the election process, demanding early completion of pending projects.
None of the 861 voters in the second block of Halebid had exercised franchise on Friday till the afternoon. The scene at a few other polling booths in Halebid hobli was similar.
Incidents of heated exchange of words were reported from many polling booths. In Gunde Gowda Koplu of Satyamangala Panchayat in Hassan taluk, the supporters of different candidates indulged in serious arguments, prompting the police to intervene and convince the groups. Similar incidents were reported from parts of Holenarsipur and Channarayapatna taluks.
Polling was peaceful in remote areas of Sakleshpur taluk, where movement of suspected Maoists had been noticed earlier. The district administration had deployed additional police force in these areas, besides conducting precautionary combing operations.
According to the information provided by the district administration, 66.7 per cent of voters had exercised franchise till 3 p.m. on Friday.
