Agencies
BANGALORE, May 10: Polling began in 89 constituencies across 11 districts in the first phase of Assembly elections in Karnataka at 7 am on Saturday amid tight security.
The districts where voting is taking place are: Tumkur, Chikkaballapur, Kolar, Bangalore Urban, Bangalore Rural, Ramanagara, Mandya, Hassan, Kodagu, Mysore and Chamarajanagar.
Heavyweights in the fray for this phase include former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy (JD-S), seeking reelection from Ramanagara, and Congress Campaign Committee Chairman and former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, contesting from newly carved Varuna segment in Mysore District.
"Elections are being held for the first time in the country after delimitation process," an Election Commission official said.
Elaborate security arrangements have been made for the smooth conduct of voting in the 18,500 polling stations.
Director General and Inspector General of Police R Srikumar said there were 6,252 hyper sensitive and 3,500 sensitive polling stations.
Close to 58,000 security personnel, including central paramilitary forces and Karnataka State Reserve Police, have been deployed for the first phase, in which nearly 1.73 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise.
Polling will end at 5 pm.