Nearly 70 per cent of Karnataka electorate cast vote in Assembly elections
Bengaluru, May 10: The single-phase election to the 224-member Karnataka State Legislative Assembly on Wednesday saw a turnout of nearly 70 per cent of voters, in a process that was "largely peaceful".
The results of the election will be announced on May 13.
In the last Assembly polls held in 2018, as much as 72.36 per cent of the electorate cast their ballot.
This time, a total of 5.31 crore electors were eligible to cast their vote in 58,545 polling stations across the state where 2,615 candidates are in the fray, with the contest being a three-cornered one between the ruling BJP, the Congress and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda's Janata Dal (Secular).
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At the end of voting, the Election Commission said, "Largely peaceful voting in all 224 Assembly constituencies in Karnataka, and no repoll indicated in any of the 58,545 polling stations."
Prominent among those who voted today include former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who is a Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
Others include former Chief Ministers B S Yediyurappa and D V Sadananda Gowda (both BJP) and Siddaramaiah and Jagadish Shettar (both Congress), KPCC president D K Shivakumar, RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale, IT industry veteran N R Narayana Murthy and wife Sudha Murty, seers of various maths, and literary and film personalities.
First-time voters and the elderly stole the show as they were seen participating in the voting process enthusiastically in many segments.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier on Wednesday urged the people of Karnataka to vote in large numbers and enrich the "festival of democracy".
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi too appealed to the people of Karnataka to vote in large numbers to build a progressive and "40-per-cent-commission-free" state.
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RR beat RCB by six wickets in IPL
Guwahati (PTI): Blistering fifties by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Dhruv Jurel powered Rajasthan Royals to a six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their IPL match here on Friday.
Sent in to bat, RCB rode on a fighting half-century by skipper Rajat Patidar (63) to post 201 for 8.
Virat Kohli (32), Romario Shepherd (22) and Venkatesh Iyer (29) also chipped in with useful contributions.
In reply, Sooryavanshi (78 off 26 balls) and Dhruv Jurel (81 not out off 43 balls) shared a 37-ball 108-run partnership for the second wicket to set the platform. Krunal Pandya (2/30) tried to bring them back with back-to-back wickets.
But Jurel, in the company of Ravindra Jadeja (24), completed the task with another 68-run stand, with two overs to spare.
For RR, Jofra Archer (2/33), Ravi Bishnoi (2/32) and Brijesh Sharma (2/37) took two wickets.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 201 for 8 in 20 overs (Rajat Patidar 63; Jofra Archer 2/33, Ravi Bishnoi 2/32, Brijesh Sharma 2/37).
Rajasthan Royals: 202 for 4 in 18 overs (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 78, Dhruv Jurel 80 not out; Krunal Pandya 2/30, Josh Hazlewood 2/44).
