An estimated 60.42 per centvoter turnout was reported tentatively in 14 Lok Sabha constituencies of Karnataka, for which polls were held in the second phase Tuesday, with the Congress-JD(S) allianceand BJP locked in a fierce contest.
Shimoga,where state BJP chief and former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa's son B Y Raghavendra is pittedagainst another former Chief Minister S Bangarappa's son Madhu, recorded the highest turnout of about 68.39 per cent, poll officials said.
The lowest was reported in Raichur with 51.75 per cent, they said, giving the polling percentage till 5 PM, which is expected to go up further in the final tally.
In Gulbarga, a key constituency where Congress leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge is pitted against Umesh Jadhav of BJP, 52.18 per cent voting has taken place so far.
Uttara Kannada,where Union Minister Ananth KumarHegde is locking horns with Anand Asnotikar of JD(S) reported 65.58 per cent turnout,while Bijapur,where another union Minister Ramesh Jigajinagi is contesting against Sunitha Devanand Chavan, a political greenhorn, recorded 53.85 per cent.
Voting took place in 28,022 polling stations in the second phase that are mostly in the northern part of the state, covering the entire Hyderabad-Karnataka and Mumbai-Karnatakaregions, as also a couple of central districts and coastal Uttara Kannada.
The BJP,that has a considerable presence in the region, aims to improve its tally, banking on the "Modi wave" and the support of the dominant Lingayat community, considered its vote base.
For the Congress-JD(S) alliance, it is a high stakes battle as their performance is likely to have a bearing on the coalition government in the state.
As Congress sought votes,hoping to cash in on the alleged anti-incumbency against sitting BJP MPs and policies of the Modi government, BJP raised the Lingayat issue intending to further consolidate the community's votes in its favour, that is already considered as its strong vote base.
BJP accused the Congress of trying to divide the community for political gains, pointing at the grand old party's support for demand to accord religious minority statusto Lingayats.
The then Congress government's decision to recommendthe status to Lingayat community is said to be one of thereasons for the party's debacle in the May 2018 assembly polls and BJP aimed to capitalize on it, using the issue once again.
Of the 14 constituencies that went to polls in the
second phase, BJP is contesting all the seats.
Congress and JD(S)have fielded their candidates in 12 and two constituencies respectively under their seat sharing arrangement.
While the Congress currently has its hold on only four of the 14 seats that went to the polls, BJP has its sitting MPs in 10 seats.
For veteran Congress leader Kharge, a nine-time MLA and two-term Lok Sabha member, who has never tasted electoral defeat, this poll is said to be a tough battle in Gulbarga against Jadhav, who quit as rebel Congress MLA and joined BJP.
In Belgaum, where Congress is hit by dissidence with rebel MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi hinting about quitting the grand old party, 58.72 per cent polling was registered till 5 PM.
Jarkiholi, against whom the Congress has moved a disqualification petition to the Speaker,according to reports, had asked his followers to favour BJP during the polls.
He had also stayed away from campaigning and Rahul Gandhi's events inthe district recently.
Officials said Chikkodi recorded 64.59 per cent, Bagalkot 63.78per cent, Bidar 56.90, Koppal 60.66, in mine rich Bellary 61.83 per cent, Haveri 63.22 per cent, Dharwad 61.95 per cent and Davangere 66.38 per cent.
As many as 2,43,03,279 voters were eligible to choose from among 237 candidates in the fray in the second phase.
Among the 237 candidates, 227 are men and 10 women.
Belgaum, with 57, has the maximum number of candidates, while Raichur, with five, has the lowest in the second as well as the first phase.
In the first phase on April 18, 14 constituencies in the southern part of the state covering old Mysuru region and a couple of coastal districts had gone to the polls, recording an overall voter turnout of 68.81 per cent.
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