 "Karnataka assembly elections see over 60% polling")
Polling for the Karnataka assembly elections ended today with a voter turnout of over 60 per cent across the state. The voters sealed the electoral fortune of 2,948 candidates in the fray across 223 assembly constituencies. Voting for Periyapatna constituency was put off following the death of BJP candidate.
Polling began on a strong note in the first three hours with an estimated turnout of 15-20 per cent. Later, the voting slowed down during the day due to searing heat.
The election commission had extended the polling time by one hour till 6 pm from the earlier 5 pm due to rising heat across the state.
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Barring a tiff between a voter and an on-duty policeman in a Bellary booth with the former sustaining minor injuries leading to protests by a section of electorate there, polling was by and large remained peaceful, sources said.
In Bangalore City, which had seen low voter turnout in 2008, witnessed about 55 per cent of voting, while Haveri and Bagalkot saw more than 70 per cent voter turnout.
106-year-old seer of the Tumkur-based Siddaganga Mutt, Shivakumar Swamy, was among the early voters. Senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu, Union Ministers M Mallikarjuna Kharge and M Veerappa Moily, Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President G Parameshwara, BJP State unit President Prahlad Joshi, and Karnataka Janatha Paksha supremo B S Yeddyurappa were among those who voted in the initial hours.
At a couple of places, including in Mahadevapura segment in Bangalore city, polling was delayed by a few minutes following malfunctioning of electronic voting machines.
Authorities had made elaborate security arrangements for peaceful and smooth conduct of polls, which commenced at 7 am. About 43.6 million people were eligible to exercise their franchise in the single-phase poll. Over 250,000 personnel were on poll duty.