K'taka bypolls: Voting underway in Bagalkot, Davanagere South assembly segments
Bengaluru (PTI): Voting was underway for bypolls to two Assembly segments, Bagalkot and Davanagere South in Karnataka on Thursday.
The polls were necessitated by the deaths of senior Congress MLAs H Y Meti and Shamanur Shivashankarappa. Counting of votes will be taken up on May 4.
Although the outcome of these by-elections is unlikely to have an immediate impact on state politics, the contest is seen as a matter of prestige for both the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP.
While the Congress faces the challenge of retaining both seats, the BJP is aiming to wrest them and deliver a setback to the ruling party.
Over 2.59 lakh eligible voters are expected to cast their votes in 319 polling stations in Bagalkot, where nine candidates are in the fray.
In Davanagere South, over 2.31 lakh voters are expected to exercise their franchsie across 284 polling stations, with 25 candidates contesting.
Elaborate security arrangements have been made for the smooth conduct of bypolls, officials said.
The BJP has fielded former MLA and 2023 defeated candidate Veerabhadrayya Charantimath from Bagalkot, and a fresh face, Srinivas T Dasakariyappa, from Davanagere South.
The Congress has given tickets to family members of the late legislators in both constituencies. Umesh Meti is the son of H Y Meti, while Samarth Mallikarjun is the grandson of Shamanur Shivashankarappa.
Samarth's father, S S Mallikarjun, is a minister in the Siddaramaiah-led Cabinet and in charge of Davanagere district, while his mother, Prabha Mallikarjun, is a Member of Parliament from the region.
The BJP is looking to make gains in the bypolls and energise its cadre ahead of the 2028 Assembly elections. For the Congress, retaining both seats is crucial, as a loss could be seen as a negative verdict on the performance of the Siddaramaiah-led dispensation.
In the 2023 Assembly elections, H Y Meti defeated Charantimath by a margin of 5,878 votes in Bagalkot, while Shivashankarappa defeated BJP's B G Ajay Kumar by 27,888 votes in Davanagere South.
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Four killed in car-lorry collision in Karnataka's Tumakuru district
Tumakuru (Karnataka) (PTI): Four people travelling in a car were killed in a head-on collision with a lorry in this district on Saturday, police said.
The accident occurred near Chigani Palya in Kunigal taluk of Tumakuru district between a car travelling from Tumakuru towards Mandya and a lorry coming from Kunigal towards Tumakuru, they said.
Due to the impact of the collision, Kumar Narasimhaswamy (65), his wife Gayathri (60), and his sister Gayathri (55), residents of Suvarnasandra in Mandya district, died on the spot, police said.
Another person, believed to be the car driver, also lost his life. His identity is yet to be confirmed, they added.
The lorry driver, however, escaped unhurt and was subsequently taken into police custody.
According to the police, Kumar along with his wife and sister had visited Devarayanadurga, a temple town and hill station, on the occasion of their wedding anniversary. They were returning home when the tragedy occurred.
Kunigal Police Station Inspector Madhya Nayak and his staff visited the spot and conducted an inspection. The bodies have been shifted to the Kunigal Government Hospital, a senior police officer said.
A case has been registered at Kunigal Police Station and further investigation is underway, he added.
