Voting begins for 4 legislative council seats in Karnataka
Bengaluru: Polling for four legislative council seats got underway in Karnataka on Wednesday amid the COVID-19 pandemic situation.
The MLC polls are taking place for Karnataka South-East Graduates, Karnataka West Graduates', Karnataka North-East Teachers' and Bangalore Teachers' constituencies, which fell vacant due to the retirement of R Chowda Reddy Thoopalli, S V Sankanur, Sharanappa Mattur, and Puttanna respectively.
The polling began at 8 am and would conclude at 5 pm.
The counting of votes will be held on November 2.
Forty candidates are trying their luck in the elections.
Among them are the four whose retirement on June 30 warranted the elections.
There are 2.35 lakh voters in these four constituencies.
Security has been beefed up at the polling stations.
Already prohibitory orders under section 144 of the CrPC have been imposed in and around the booths.
The Election Commission has directed the returning officers to ensure that face masks and social distancing should be maintained by the staff as well as the voters.
Following the guidelines, arrangements have been made for hand sanitizers and thermal screening at all the booths.
There are medical teams deployed around the polling centers as well.
The election is crucial for the BJP as it lacks a majority in the state Legislative Council to pass the crucial bills.
The BJP government could not pass the farm bills and labor reforms amendment bills in the recently held legislative session as it could not get through the upper house despite getting passed in the assembly.
In the council with a strength of 75 members, Congress has 28 members, BJP -- 27 members, Janata Dal (Secular) -- 14 members, one independent, one chairman, and four vacant seats.
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UP Cong chief Ajay Rai hospitalised after fainting, stable
Lucknow (PTI): Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai was hospitalised here after he fell unconscious due to low sodium levels, party leaders said on Saturday.
They said he was admitted to Medanta Hospital on Friday evening and is stable.
"Ajay Rai was admitted to Medanta Hospital in Lucknow at around 6 pm on Friday after he fell unconscious as his sodium levels had dropped. He fell unconscious at his residence in Lucknow. For the entire day, he was engaged in party programmes and had also gone to the airport," Uttar Pradesh Congress spokesperson Anshu Awasthi told PTI.
Congress in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Avinash Pande told PTI, "Now, he (Ajay Rai) is stable and I am also reaching Lucknow."
Medanta Hospital Director Dr Rakesh Kapoor told PTI that Rai collapsed at his home on Friday evening and was subsequently admitted to the hospital's emergency ward.
Medical examinations revealed that Rai was suffering from a sodium deficiency and elevated blood pressure. Doctors administered immediate treatment and he is doing significantly better now, Kapoor said.
A team of doctors is monitoring his health. Rai is conversing with others and his condition is stable, he added.
In a post on X late Friday night, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished Rai a speedy recovery.
Rai hails from Varanasi and had contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections against Modi from the parliamentary constituency. The Congress appointed him as the Uttar Pradesh unit chief in 2023.
