Karnataka recorded 70 per cent voter turnout as polling for high stakes Assembly election ended on Saturday, state electoral officials said. The voters lined up in long queues to choose their representative after a heated campaign that witnessed the Congress and the BJP deploy their top leaders.
The highest polling was recorded in Chikkaballapura and Ramanagara at 76 per cent, while Bengaluru Urban recorded lowest at 48 per cent.
In the 2013 assembly elections, the turnout percentage was 71.45 per cent, while in the last three elections the voting percentage has averaged 67.1%.
The polling began at 7 am at 58,546 polling stations in 222 seats out of 224 seats and concluded at 6 pm. Voting in Jayanagar was postponed due to the death of BJP candidate BN Vijay Kumar whereas Rajarajeshwari Nagar’s poll was postponed over fake voter identity cards row.
Earlier on the voting day, a faulty VVPAT machine was replaced in Hubli, whereas re-polling will take place in Hebbal assembly constituency’s polling station number 2 after the polls was stopped due to EVM failure.
The Karnataka election is being considered extremely important for both the BJP and the Congress as many see it as a stepping stone to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The BJP is looking to oust the Siddaramaiah government in Karnataka by coming back to power in assembly elections with BS Yeddyurappa as its chief ministerial candidate.
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