Polling was brisk in Kodagu, Mandya and Chamarajanagar which have 13 Assembly constituencies spread across the three districts.
Baring minor incidents and threats of boycotts at a few places there were no major untoward incidents and the polling percentage was also high.
In Kodagu which has 4,56,313 voters the polling percentage was 11.74 at 9 a.m. and increased to 26.52 by 11 a.m. There was no let up in the enthusiasm of the voters and by 1 p.m. the polling percentage reached 45.64, reached 58.24 at 3 p.m. and breached the 70 per cent mark at 5 p.m.
There were 543 polling booths for the two constituencies in Kodagu and people displayed tremendous enthusiasm in exercising their franchise. The efforts of the District SVEEP committee which had conducted a slew of rallies and programmes to enthuse the public to cast their votes, paid off.
There were assured minimum facilities in all the polling booths and the enthusiasm of the first-time voters was infectious. One of the polling station identified as naxal-affected in Vanachalu village saw brisk polling since voting began at 7 a.m. Local villager Saroja who spoke to media said there was enthusiasm among the people who were keen to exercise their franchise. Though many of the people work outside the district or in other places, they had returned home to cast their vote, she added.
There was lengthy queue in other polling stations as well as at Galibeedu, Madenadu, Suntikoppa, Siddapura, Gonikoppa, Ponnampet, Hudikere, Balale, Murnadu, Napoklu, Somwarpet, Kushalnagar etc.
Senior citizens exercising their franchise was common across the district. At St. Michael’s School in Madikeri, senior citizen Mittu Changappa was among the first to exercise his franchise at 7 a.m. He has been casting vote in every elections held since 1962 and was accompanied by his wife Yashi. Another salient feature is that every time he reaches ahead of the opening of the polling station and is the first to cast the vote in the polling station.
In Chamarajanagar there were 8,61,489 registered voters and the polling percentage was 69.31 per cent at 5 p.m. and taluk-wise figures indicate that it was the highest in Gundlupet at 76.81 per cent followed by Chamarajanagar where the polling percentage was 73.25. In Kollegal it was 65 per cent and at Hanur, 62.57 per cent at 5 p.m.
In Mandya there are 15,33,831 registered voters and the voting percentage was 82.30 at 6 p.m. At Malavalli it was 75.39 per cent; Maddur (82.71); Melkote (90.21); Mandya (75.69); Srirangapatna (83.81); Nagamangala (87.40) and at K.R.Pet it was 82.83 per cent.
