Dakshina Kannada Records 72 per cent Polling

Mangalore, May 16:  A remarkable rate of voting was recorded in Dakshina Kannada in the assembly elections held on Friday, May 16. The district administration said the entire polling process was incident-free and an estimated 72 per cent of the 13.33-lakh voters exercised their franchise. There was one case each of impersonation and an electronic voting machine (EVM) failing reported from the district.

Udupi district regstered 74% polling.

Interestingly, the strict actions taken by the Election Commission (EC) to revise the voters list has increased the percentage of voting, officials opined. The EC had taken measures  to delete the names of the voters who are not residing at their permanent addresses.

A big number of Mangaloreans who are away , lost their names from the voters' list.  This has resulted in an  increase in the percentage of polling in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi district, sources said.

The elections were  also peaceful in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi district, barring a few minor incidents. Deployment of central paramilitary forces in all the polling stations has also resulted in peaceful voting.  Good polling was also reported from the Naxal affected areas in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts.

Sealed Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) have been brought to the city from all 8 constituencies of the district on Friday evening. These EVMs will be kept at the Canara College after sorting them out, till counting date.

Impersonation

The presiding officer of booth number 74 at Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat Urdu School at Kudroli, N.S. Govind Bhat, noticed a person who had come to impersonate a voter. The accused has been identified as Shailesh, resident of Uliya in Ullal, who attempted to impersonate Sujith by using a ration card that he had brought along. A case has been registered at the Mangalore North police station.

Report at 7.00pm, May 16:

Mangalore, May 16: The city recorded a good percentage of polling in the second phase of elections on Friday May 16. Heavy queues were seen in front of almost all the polling stations so much so that the election officers could not even get time to have their lunch.

Even in Mangalore Special Economic Zone (MSEZ)-affected areas, people rushed to the polling centres to decide their MLA. Earlier, the locals of Permude, Yekkar and Kalavar headed by Krishi Bhoomi Samrakshana Samiti decided to boycott the polling. But they finally changed their decision and voted in favour of candidates who could safeguard their interests.

The members of Krishi Bhoomi Samrakshana Samiti informed the media that they decided not to vote for BJP, Congress and Janata Dal (S) which are in favour of MSEZ. About 50% vote was cast by about 1 pm in Tenka Yekkar, Badaga Yekkar, Permude etc.

Good percentage of polling was reported from Mangalore constituency also. In places like Mastikatte, Kotepur, Ullal etc, where minority community is high in number, polling crossed more than 60% by about 3.30 pm. All these developments signify that the polling in and around Mangalore may reach up to 68-70 per cent.

Heavy work

The election officers had to do heavy work owing to unequal distribution of voters in different polling stations. In booth number 18 which comes in Mastikatte, the total number of voters was 1206. But only 419 voters were allotted booth number 18A, which is adjacent to booth number 18. Therefore, heavy queue was found in booth number 18. Two of the election officers could not get time to eat their lunch owing to the work pressure. 

Many of the voters lost their voting rights this time owing to the revision of voters' lists done by the election commission. The election commission removed the names of the voters who do not reside in their own villages. Basically, the persons who are working away from their villages were denied opportunity to vote.

Earlier Reports from Mangalore & Udupi with Pictures:

• Udupi: Second Phase of Election Witnesses Brisk Polling
• Mangalore: Second Phase of Polling Begins - Good Response in Early Hours