Karnataka assembly bypolls: 39.15 percent polling at RR Nagar
Bengaluru: Polling for the Rajarajeshwari Nagar and Sira assembly by-elections in Karnataka held under the shadow of coronavirus concluded peacefully without any major glitches on Tuesday.
Poor voter turnout marked the Rajarajeshwari Nagar bypoll with a polling percentage of only 39.15, whereas in Sira 77.34 percent voting took place till 5 pm, according to the office of the Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar.
The death of Sira JD(S) MLA B Satyanarayana in August and the resignation of RR Nagar Congress MLA Munirathna from the assembly last year led to the bypolls.
Till 9 am the voting did not pick up in both the constituencies as about 8 percent voting took place.
It picked up in Sira at 11 am with 23.63 percent but there was a slight increase in RR Nagar with 14.44 percent polling.
By 3 pm, the voting percentage was 62.1 in Sira and 32.41 in RR Nagar.
According to information received from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, polling started at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm in the two constituencies with a voting population of 6,78,012, including 3,26,114 women.
There are 1,008 polling stations, comprising 678 in RR Nagar and 330 in Sira, Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar said in a statement.
In view of the pandemic, standard protocol of face masks was made mandatory for the voters as well as the polling staff.
Arrangements were made for thermal screening and hand sanitisers made available at the polling stations.
Security was beefed up around the polling stations.
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (city corporation) had made separate arrangements for coronavirus- infected people to cast their votes in RR Nagar.
There are 31 candidates in the fray in the bypolls -- 15 in Sira and 16 in RR Nagar, including those from the Congress, BJP and the JD(S).
In RR Nagar, the BJP has fielded former Congress MLA Munirathna as its candidate whereas the Congress has given ticket to H Kusuma, wife of former IAS officer late D K Ravi in the seat traditionally held by the party.
The JD(S) has fielded V Krishnamurthy.
In Sira, the BJP, Congress and JD(S) have fielded radiologist Dr Rakesh Gowda, former minister T B Jayachandra and former (JD-S) MLA B Satyanarayana's wife Ammajamma respectively.
In the 224-seat assembly, BJP has 116 MLAs minus the speaker, Congress 67 and JD(S) 33, BSP one and there are two independents.
There is also a nominated member.
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BITS Pilani student killed, another injured as motorcycle collides with oil tanker in South Goa
Panaji (PTI): A 26-year-old student of BITS Pilani was killed, and another suffered grievous injuries after their motorcycle collided with an oil tanker in South Goa, police said on Sunday.
The accident occurred around 5.15 pm on Saturday near a junction at Upasnagar in the Zuari Nagar area, an official said.
He said that the tanker was heading towards Vasco town from Upasnagar when the driver, Pedro Ivo Medeira (66), allegedly took a right turn to enter another lane without ensuring the safety of the oncoming traffic.
The victim, Karan Narasimha Murthy, who was riding towards Verna from the BITS Pilani campus, crashed into the rear left side of the tanker.
Murthy and his friend, Soham Adhikari (26), another student of BITS Pilani, suffered grievous injuries and were rushed to a hospital, where the former succumbed to his injuries.
Adhikari is undergoing treatment at the Goa Medical College and Hospital in Bambolim, the official said, adding that the tanker driver was arrested and later released on bail.
