81.84 per cent voter turnout in bypolls in three Assembly segments in Karnataka
Bengaluru, Nov 13: There was a tentative 81.84 per cent voters turnout in three Assembly segments of Karnataka where bypolls were held on Wednesday, election officials said.
More than seven lakh voters were eligible to cast their votes in about 770 polling stations in Shiggaon, Sandur and Channapatna, where a total of 45 candidates were in the fray.
While Channapatna recorded a record 88.48 per cent voter turnout, it was 80.48 per cent in Shiggaon, and 76.24 per cent in Sandur, the officials said.
By-polls for Sandur, Shiggaon, and Channapatna were necessitated, as the seats fell vacant following the election of their respective representatives -- E Tukaram of Congress, former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai of BJP, and Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy of JD(S) -- to Lok Sabha in the May elections.
Channapatna has the highest number of 31 candidates in the fray, while Sandur and Shiggaon have six and eight contenders, respectively.
Police made elaborate security arrangements in the three segments for the smooth conduct of the polls.
The bypolls witnessed a straight fight between the ruling Congress and BJP in Sandur and Shiggaon segments, while in Channapatna, JD(S), which is part of the NDA alliance, is in contest against the grand old party.
"We (Congress) will win all the three seats, I have campaigned in the three segments, looking at the response from the people, I'm confident that we will win all three seats," Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told reporters in Mysuru.
Among the three segments, Channapatna is considered to be a 'high profile', where the contest is between C P Yogeeshwara, a five time MLA from the segment and former Minister, who joined the Congress quitting BJP recently, and actor-turned -politician Nikhil Kumaraswamy, who is Kumaraswamy's son and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda's grandson.
Yogeeshwara, after casting his vote, said there was a "good atmosphere" and he felt that the people of Channapatna were with the Congress government and with him.
He said that his personal stake was involved in the election along with that of the Congress party and the government, as this was also the home district of Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar.
Stating that "political developments and pressure" from party workers led him to enter the poll fray, Nikhil Kumaraswamy said on getting an opportunity to represent the constituency, he would honestly work for the welfare of the people of the segment and fulfill their expectations.
BJP's Bharath Bommai, son of Basavaraj Bommai, had a direct fight against Congress' Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan, who had faced defeat against the former Chief Minister in the 2023 Assembly polls, in Shiggaon.
Expressing confidence about his son's win with a big margin, Basavaraj Bommai hit out at the ruling Congress accusing it of using "government machinery, money power and also caste" during campaigning.
"The entire government, ministers and legislators were here, the government had stopped functioning, it seemed as though Vidhana Soudha was locked...ministers and legislators had come with money bags. Disregarding democratic principles they conspired to win the polls in the name of money and caste....CM Siddaramaiah has stooped to such low. People will defeat them," he said.
With Nikhil Kumaraswamy and Bharath Bommai contesting, the third generation of Gowda and Bommai families is in the fray in this bypoll. Both their fathers and grandfathers have served as chief ministers in the past.
In Sandur, Bellary MP Tukaram's wife E Annapurna of Congress is contesting from the seat vacated by her husband, against BJP state ST Morcha president Bangaru Hanumanthu, who is considered close to party leader and former mining baron G Janardhana Reddy.
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Rishabh Pant's troubles continue as Punjab Kings push LSG towards exit door
Dharamsala, May 4 (PTI): Rishabh Pant lost the grip on his bat and the match simultaneously as Punjab Kings rode on heroics from the two 'Singhs' -- Prabhsimran and Arshdeep -- to literally push Lucknow Super Giants to the brink of elimination with a 37-run win in an IPL match here on Sunday.
It was Prabhsimran's 48-ball 91 that formed the cornerstone of Punjab Kings' unassailable 236 for 5 and any hopes of a remarkable chase was nipped in the bud by Arshdeep's (3/16 in 4 overs) now familiar Powerplay spell which summarily destroyed the opposition top-order.
This time, he got the three top run getters -- Mitchell Marsh (0), Aiden Markram (13) and the ever-dangerous Nicholas Pooran (6) -- to swing the match decisively in Punjab's favour. Ayush Badoni's (74 off 40 balls) effort was a good one albeit it came for a losing cause.
LSG were finally restricted to 199 for 7 in 20 overs and even if they win their last three games and get to 16 points from 14 games, their net run-rate can make things difficult for them.
Punjab Kings are now placed second with 15 points from 11 games and one more win could possibly clinch a place in top four for them.
But what is becoming an eyesore is LSG's Rs 27 crore worth skipper Pant's inexplicable approach which has fetched him a dismal 128 runs in 11 innings at a sub-100 strike-rate (99.22).
On the day, he scored 18 off 17 balls and that he is completely out of sync was evident in the manner he tried to throw the proverbial kitchen sink at an Azmatullah Omarzai delivery. There was no control in his shot as the bat took off on parabolic curve towards square leg and the ball went towards deep point.
Pant's misery was a testimony of LSG's wretched campaign that was lost at the auction table when the owner decided to go with a sub-standard bowling attack based on a half-fit talented pacer Mayank Yadav.
Mayank has already lost at least 10-15 yards of pace post rehabilitation under the watch of Nitin Patel at the National Cricket Academy.
On Sunday, he went for 60 runs off four overs with half a dozen of sixes struck off his bowling.
The pint-sized Prabhsimran packed a mean punch in his strokes as he blasted his way to a 48-ball 91 with the help of six fours and seven sixes.
The Punjab keeper-batter should have got his second IPL hundred but an ambitious switch hit off Digvesh Rathi saw him head back to the pavilion, nine runs short of what would have been a deserving milestone.
Towards the end, Shashank Singh scored 33 off 15 balls to take PBKS to what looked like an unassailable total. There were 16 sixes hit by Pujab Kings with 13 coming off pacers.
Prabhsimran was initially a passive partner as it was Australian Jos Inglis who launched the first attack with a hat-trick of sixes off Mayank Yadav, whose speed has decreased by at least 15 kmph post his intense rehab under Nitin Patel at the BCCI's erstwhile National Cricket Academy to recover from back injury.
However, once Inglis was dismissed, Prabhsimran, along with skipper Shreyas Iyer (45 off 25 balls), took control of the game. They were only helped by some atrocious fielding from Avesh Khan, who would probably go down as the worst fielder in the 18-year history of IPL.
Adding insult to injury, Prabhsimran took the tall MP fast bowler to the cleaners as he was pulled over mid-wicket for back-to-back maximums. Khan went for 57 in four overs and if around 15 runs due to his misfielding is added, he caused the maximum damage for his team.
The duo of Prabhsimran and Iyer added 78 runs in 7.5 overs before Rathi, LSG's best bowler on view, became the first spinner in the current season to account for Punjab Kings skipper's wicket.
But Prabhsimran continued like a man possessed and LSG bowlers were guilty of feeding to his strengths throughout the innings.
