Polling was peaceful in the Malnad districts of Shivamogga, Hassan, and Chikkamagaluru. The voters enthusiastically participated in the election process, dubbed the “festival of democracy.”
There were long queues of voters in parts of Hassan, Shivamogga, Shikaripur, Chikkamagaluru, Mudigere constituencies in the early hours of the day. First-time voters cast their votes accompanied by their parents and other elders in the family. Rohith, a resident of Maheshwari Nagar in Sakleshpur, rushed to the polling booth soon after he married Nandini at Dharmasthala, to cast his vote. Similarly, in Sagar, Vinod Kumar, a bridegroom, exercise his right to vote, before reaching the marriage hall, where he married Pallavi from Ripponpet.
The elderly people, who missed the ‘vote from home’ facility, visited the booths with their children to exercise their franchise. The Election Commission had arranged wheelchairs in all booths to help them. In Chikkamagaluru district alone, 21 people, aged over 100, voted on the day, according to a communiqué from the district administration.
Former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, 90, reached the polling booth at Paduvalahippe in Holenarsipur, with the help of his two assistants. He was accompanied by his wife, Channamma. Both travelled to Hassan from Bengaluru by helicopter to vote. Former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa was one of those who cast their votes early in the day in Shikaripur. He was accompanied by his sons, B.Y.Vijayendra, BJP candidate for Shikaripur, B.Y.Raghavendra, Lok Sabha member; and other family members. He exuded confidence in the BJP’s return to power.
Most of the candidates voted early in the day and spent the rest of the day visiting different villages in their constituencies. Belur Gopalakrishna of Sagar, Ashok Naik of Shivamogga Rural and Preetham Gowda of Hassan were spotted interacting with their supporters at different booths.
In almost all polling booths, the supporters of political parties were wearing shawls. While BJP supporters were wearing saffron shawls, JD(S) workers were wearing green shawls. They were welcoming every voter with folded hands and did make a last-minute effort to convince them to vote in their favour. In some places, the party supporters engaged in heated arguments with rival groups. The police had to intervene to disperse the mob at Salur in Shikaripur constituency when the two rival groups engaged in heated arguments.
The Election Commission’s initiative to set up special booths - Sakhi, ethnic booths - received a good response. The women were happy with the way the Sakhi booths were set up. Many voters were seen taking photographs after casting their votes in Sakhi booths.
Voter dies of heart attack
A voter suffered a massive heart attack and died within minutes after casting his vote at Chikkole village in Belur taluk.
Jayanna, 49, collapsed soon after he came out of the booth. He breathed his last on the premises of Government Lower Primary School, where the booth was set up. The village falls within the Belur Assembly constituency.
