38.23% voter turnout during the first half of the day in 14 LS segments in Karnataka
Bengaluru (PTI): An estimated 38.23 per cent turnout was reported during the first half of the day in Karnataka, where the first phase of Lok Sabha polls in 14 of 28 constituencies is underway on Friday.
According to election officials, 38.23 per cent of the electorate in Karnataka had cast their vote till 1 PM. Voting began at 7.00 am and will end by 6.00 pm.
Out of 14 segments that are going to the polls today, the highest turnout of 48.10 per cent was recorded in Dakshina Kannada, followed by Udupi-Chikmagalur 46.43 per cent, and the least 30.10 per cent in Bangalore Central.
The turnout was 31.51 per cent in Bangalore South, and 32.25 per cent in Bangalore North.
In the first phase, the Congress is contesting in all 14 seats, BJP has fielded nominees in 11 and its alliance partner JD(S), which joined the National Democratic Alliance in (NDA) in September last year, in three -- Hassan, Mandya and Kolar.
Besides those three, the segments where elections are being held on Friday are Udupi-Chikmagalur, Dakshina Kannada, Chitradurga, Tumkur, Mysore, Chamarajanagar, Bangalore Rural, Bangalore North, Bangalore Central, Bangalore South and Chikkaballapur.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress and JD(S), which were in alliance and in power in the state back then, had secured just one seat each in these 14 segments. The BJP had won in 11 and ensured the victory of a party supported independent candidate in Mandya.
On Friday, Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress President D K Shivakumar along with his family cast his vote at Doddalahalli in Kanakapura of Ramanagara district. Mandya MP Sumalatha Ambareesh also cast her vote.
Cricketing legend Anil Kumble, Ayodhya Ram Mandir's Ram lalla sculptor Arun Yogiraj and former Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde were among prominent persons who cast their votes during the day, along with IT industry veterans Kris Gopalakrishnan and Mohandas Pai.
Biotechnology veteran Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw of Biocon, after casting her vote, in a post on social media platform X said, "As a responsible citizen of our great country, I have cast my vote. Jai hind"
Film stars Upendra, Shivarajkumar and Sudeep too exercised their franchise during the first half of the day.
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Hamas accepts cease-fire proposal for Gaza, but Israel's stance still uncertain
Jerusalem, May 6: Hamas announced Monday it has accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal, but there was no immediate word from Israel, leaving it uncertain whether a deal had been sealed to bring a halt to the seven-month-long war in Gaza.
It was the first glimmer of hope that a deal might avert further bloodshed. Hours earlier, Israel ordered some 100,000 Palestinians to begin evacuating the southern Gaza town of Rafah, signalling that an attack was imminent. The United States and other key allies of Israel oppose an offensive on Rafah, where around 1.4 million Palestinians, more than half of Gaza's population, are sheltering.
An official familiar with Israeli thinking said Israeli officials were examining the proposal, but the plan approved by Hamas was not the framework Israel proposed.
An American official also said the US was still waiting to learn more about the Hamas position and whether it reflected an agreement to what had already been signed off on by Israel and international negotiators or something else. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity as a stance was still being formulated.
Details of the proposal have not been released. Touring the region last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had pressed Hamas to take the deal, and Egyptian officials said it called for a cease-fire of multiple stages starting with a limited hostage release and some Israeli troop pullbacks from Gaza. The two sides would also negotiate a “permanent calm” that would lead to a full hostage release and greater Israeli withdrawal, they said.
