LS polls: 9.45% voter turnout in Karnataka's 14 constituencies till 9 am
Bengaluru (PTI): An estimated 9.45 percent turnout was reported during the first two hours since voting began for the second phase of Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka in 14 constituencies.
Queues were seen at polling booths in most of these Lok Sabha segments in the northern districts of state with voters, mostly senior citizens, morning walkers and joggers, lining up to cast their votes early, with temperature expected to rise as the day progresses.
Voter turnout till 9 am was about 9.45 per cent, election officials said.
Out of 14 segments that are going to polls today, highest turnout of 11.39 per cent was recorded in Shimoga, followed by Uttara Kannada at 11.07 per cent, and least 8.27 per cent in Raichur.
A total of 227 candidates -- 206 men and 21 women -- are in the fray for the second phase covering northern districts, where more than 2.59 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in 28,269 polling stations.
The Congress and BJP are locking horns on the electoral battleground again in less than a fortnight in Karnataka.
It's going to be a straight fight between the ruling Congress and the BJP in the segments in the northern districts. The JD(S) is not contesting in these seats and is supporting its NDA alliance partner -- the BJP.
The state has a total of 28 Lok Sabha constituencies. The first phase of polling in the other 14 seats in most of the southern and coastal districts was held on April 26.
The segments where elections will be held on Tuesday are: Chikkodi, Belgaum, Bagalkot, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Raichur, Bidar, Koppal, Bellary, Haveri, Dharwad, Uttara Kannada, Davangere and Shimoga.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, BJP had swept all these 14 seats, defeating Congress and JD(S), which were in alliance and ruling the state back then.
Former Chief Ministers Basavaraj Bommai and Jagadish Shettar , who are also BJP's candidates from Haveri and Belgaum segments, Karnataka Legislative Council Chairman Basavaraj Horatti, suspended BJP leader and independent candidate from Shimoga K S Eshwarappa, Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar along with son and Belgaum Congress candidate Mrinal Hebbalkar were among the prominants who cast their votes.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
