Polling for the Ballari Local Authorities Constituency of the Legislative Council went off peacefully on Friday to record a voter turnout of 99.81%.
As per information provided by the office of District Election Officer, 4,654 voters of 4,663 exercised their franchise. Nine members, including two who are in judicial custody, did not cast their votes.
Polling began simultaneously at 8 a.m. as scheduled across 247 polling stations established in Ballari and Vijayanagara districts. Slow-paced in the morning to record just 11.62% of turnout by 10 a.m., polling gathered momentum as the day grew. By noon, the turnout jumped to 61.36% and kept pace in the next two hours to reach 91.04% by 2 p.m. When voting ended at 4 p.m., the turnout stood at 99.81%.
Congress candidate K.C. Kondaiah, who currently represents the constituency in the Legislative Council, was the only candidate in the fray who exercised his franchise. BJP candidate Yeachareddy Sathish and Independent candidate C.M. Manjunath are not voters as they are not members of any local bodies of governance.
Almost all members of the Legislature, including Minister Anand Singh, exercised their franchise.
Mr. Kondaiah’s polling station agent Vijay Kumar offered puja to the polling station at Sanganakallu village and broke a coconut before polling commenced.
Senior Indian Administrative Service officer V. Ram Prasath Manohar, who was the election observer for the constituency, visited polling stations in and around Kamalapur and Hampi to take stock of the process.
“Polling went off peacefully. No untoward incident was reported,” Mr. Manohar told mediapersons.
District Election Officer and Deputy Commissioner of Ballari Pavan Kumar Malapati visited various polling stations in and around Ballari.
The polling staff across the two districts worked to ensure compliance with COVID-19 guidelines during voting.
