K'taka polls: 20% of electorate cast vote

Sat, May 10 01:44 PM

An estimated 20 per cent of the electorate cast their ballot by noon in the first phase of the Assembly elections in Karnataka in 89 constituencies across 11 districts, Election Commission sources said.

Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, his two sons -- former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and H D Revanna -- Rajya Sabha member and BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu and former Chief Minister S M Krishna and former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah (both Congress), were among those who voted.

Close to 1.73 crore people are eligible to exercise their franchise in this phase for which authorities had made elaborate security arrangements.

"The voting process is by and large peaceful so far," an Election Commission official said.

Bangalore alone accounted for 28 seats of the total 89 segments in 11 districts of Tumkur, Chikkabalapur, Kolar, Bangalore Urban, Bangalore Rural, Ramanagara, Mandya, Hassan, Kodagu, Mysore and Chamarajanagar.

As many as 953 candidates, including 17 women, are in the fray for this phase in Bangalore and old Mysore region.

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