63 per cent polling in Karnataka civic election
Bengaluru: The election to 105 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) across Karnataka held from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. registered 63.8 per cent voting, the State Election Commission (SEC) said on Friday.
The local bodies across 24 districts of the state registered an average voting percentage of 63.8, according to polling data from the SEC released on Friday night.
Voting which began at a slow pace at 7 a.m. in most parts of the southern state moderated by noon and then picked up pace.
Polling took place peacefully across the 2,662 wards of the state, spread over 29 city municipalities, 53 town municipalities and 23 town panchayats and in 135 wards of the three city corporations, an election official said.
Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were used for polling in all the wards amid tight security, with about 40,000 personnel deployed across the state to maintain law and order.
A total of 36 lakh voters were registered for exercising their franchise in the ULB wards and 13.33 lakh in the three towns of Mysuru, Shivamogga and Tumakuru.
In all, 8,340 candidates, including 2,306 from the Congress, 2,203 from the Bharatiya Janata Party and 1,397 from the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) are in the fray for the ULBs, while 814 contested from the city corporations, including 135 from Congress, 130 from BJP and 129 from JD-S.
Counting of votes will be taken up on September 3 and most of the results are expected by night or early Tuesday.
In the 2013 ULB elections held in 4,976 seats, the Congress had won 1,960 seats, while BJP and JD-S had won 905 seats each, while independents bagged the remaining 1,206 seats.
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BJP's Suvendu urges Bengal Guv to order independent judicial inquiry into Messi event fiasco
Kolkata(PTI): Leader of Opposition in West Bengal assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on Saturday wrote to Governor C V Ananda Bose, seeking an independent judicial inquiry into “administrative incompetence” and “public humiliation of citizens”at the Salt Lake Stadium here during an event featuring football legend Lionel Messi.
In his letter, Adhikari alleged that the stadium, built with public funds, was converted into a “private durbar” for political elites, resulting in humiliation and harassment of spectators who had purchased tickets.
"I write this communication with a profound sense of anguish, constitutional alarm, and moral urgency. What unfolded at the Yuva Bharati Krirangan was not merely an episode of administrative incompetence, it was a public humiliation of citizens, a grotesque exhibition of unrestrained political privilege, and a direct assault on the rule of law in the presence of thousands of witnesses," Adhikari asserted.
He claimed that football fans were denied basic amenities and dignified viewing due to unchecked VIP presence, obstruction of sightlines, and arbitrary restrictions.
Chaos unfolded at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday, after spectators resorted to vandalism on failing to catch a glimpse of Messi, alleging gross mismanagement by the organisers and obstruction of views by VIPs.
Police arrested the event’s prime organiser, Satadru Datta, while Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced the constitution of a high-level inquiry committee to probe the incident.
Adhikari, in his letter, held the sports department, police authorities and the minister-in-charge of sports and youth affairs responsible, alleging that the situation was “enabled, if not orchestrated”, by the state administration.
He claimed that the conduct of the authorities reflected indifference to public accountability and misuse of power.
The senior BJP leader also took exception to the inquiry committee announced by the chief minister, contending that it lacked independence and credibility.
Adhikari said the panel is headed by Justice (Retd) Asim Ray, who currently holds a statutory post under the administrative control of the state government, and includes senior bureaucrats whose actions are under scrutiny.
"This committee is structurally compromised, legally infirm, and morally indefensible," he said in the letter to the governor.
Adhikari urged Bose to exercise his constitutional authority to order the formation of a truly independent inquiry committee.
He proposed that the committee be headed by a sitting judge of the Calcutta High Court, and assisted by persons of unimpeachable integrity with no institutional, administrative or political affiliation with the state government.
“The issue transcends football, politics, and personalities. It concerns the right of citizens to be treated with dignity, the obligation of the state to act as trustee of public interest, and the duty of constitutional authorities to intervene when the executive becomes a law unto itself,” Adhikari said.
Later, speaking to reporters, he accused the state government of mismanaging the situation at Salt Lake Stadium, and demanded the resignation of the CM.
Adhikari said all those responsible for the fiasco should be arrested, and spectators must be provided refunds.
He alleged that senior Trinamool Congress leaders and their associates crowded around Messi, leaving thousands of fans at the stadium deprived of catching a clear glimpse of the football star.
“This was a case of misuse of power at the cost of ordinary citizens. The chief minister must take moral responsibility, those responsible for the incident should be arrested, and every fan who was cheated must get a refund,” Adhikari asserted.
He added that public anger would not subside without accountability and corrective action.
