Stage is all set for the second phase of Polling tomorrow in Karnataka
Bengaluru, Apr 22: After a rancorous campaign for about a month, the remaining 14 out of total 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka will go to polls in the second and final phase Tuesday, with the battle lines clearly delineated for a bipolar contest between the ruling Congress-JD(S) and the BJP.
The constituencies that are going to polls in the second phase are mostly in the northern belt of the state, covering the entire Hyderabad-Karnataka and Mumbai-Karnataka regions, a couple of central districts and coastal Uttara Kannada.
BJP that has considerable presence in the region aims to improve its tally banking on the "Modi wave" and the support of dominant Lingayat community, considered as it's vote base.
For ruling Congress-JD(S) alliance, it is a high stake battle as their performance in this poll is likely to have its bearing on the coalition government headed by H D Kumaraswamy in the state.
Realising the crucial vote of Karnataka in the wake of perceived challenges in northern state, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah and several union ministers have campaigned rigorously in the state.
On the other hand, the Congress leaders have banked on the frequent rallies of their party chief Rahul Gandhi.
BJP targeted the Congress-JDS combine on the dissidence within by calling it a "turbulent government".
The ruling Congress-JD(S) however hopes to cash in on alleged anti-incumbency against sitting BJP MPs and policies of the Modi government.
Of the 14 constituencies that will go to polls in the second phase on April 23, BJP is contesting in all the seats while Congress and JD(S), who have an alliance, have fielded their candidates in 12 and 2 constituencies respectively as per the seat sharing arrangement.
Congress currently has its hold on only 4 out of 14 seats Chikkodi, Gulbarga, Bellary, Raichur while the BJP has its sitting MPs in 10 seats.
Polling will take place in 28,022 polling stations of which 5,674 have been designated 'critical' by police.
A total of 2,03,591 polling personnel, including 1,43,580 poll officials, 34,548 police personnel, 5,407 transport personnel and 20,056 other personnel, will be on duty.
As many as 2,43,03,279 voters are eligible to choose their choice from among 237 candidates in the fray during the second phase.
Among the 237 candidates, 227 are men and 10 women.
Belgaum with 57 has the maximum number of candidates, while Raichur with five has the lowest in the second as well as the first phase.
Out of the total 2,43,03,279 voters in the 14 seats, 1,22,55,590 are men, 1,20,45,667 women and 2,022 others.
Voting will take place between 7 am and 6 pm on Tuesday, in 14 constituencies, where holiday has been declared under Negotiable Instruments Act.
Among prominent contestants in the second phase include Congress leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge (Gulbarga) Union Ministers Ananth Kumar Hegde (Uttara Kannada) and Ramesh Jigajinagi (Bijapur).
Besides, state BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa's son B Y Raghavendra is pitted against another former chief minister S Bangarappa's son Madhu Bangarappa of JD(S) from Shimoga while Pradesh Congress Working President Eshwar Khandre is seeking election from Bidar.
A key constituency is Gulbarga, where leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, a nine-time MLA and two-term Lok Sabha member who has never tasted electoral defeat.
He is said to be facing a tough battle against BJP's Umesh Jadhav, who recently joined the party quitting as Congress MLA.
Jadhav was among the four MLAs against whom Congress had moved the Assembly speaker for disqualification under anti-defection law.
Following Jadhav's resignation as MLA, the grand old party had petitioned the speaker not to accept his resignation as disqualification was pending against him.
However, Speaker after hearing both sides accepted his resignation as MLA.
Spotlight is also on Shimoga, where the battle is between sons of two former chief ministers.
Interestingly Yeddyurappa's son and sitting MP Raghavendra had defeated Bangarappa's son and former MLA Madhu during by-polls held in November last year.
Contest in Belgaum is something to be watched out as Congress there is grappling with dissidence, with senior leader and party's rebel MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi allegedly asking his supporters to favour BJP in the polls.
Jarkiholi, against whom disqualification petition moved by the party is pending before the speaker, did not even attend Congress president Rahul Gandhi's rally recently.
With Lingayat votes said to be a key in this poll, as the community has considerable presence in most of the constituencies, BJP is seen to be trying to further consolidate the community's votes in it favour.
It has been accusing Congress of trying to divide the community for political gains, pointing at the ruling party's support for demand to accord religious minority status to Lingayats.
The previous Congress government's decision to recommend the status to Lingayat community is said to be one of the reasons for the party's debacle in May 2018 assembly polls.
The 14 constituencies in southern part of the state covering old Mysuru region and couple of coastal districts had gone to the polls on April 18, recording an overall voter turnout of 68.81 per cent.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls out of total 28 seats in the state, the BJP had won in 17, Congress 9 and JD(S) in two seats.
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West Asia conflict: Six Indians lost their lives in 'various incidents', says MEA
New Delhi (PTI): Amid the escalating West Asia conflict, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday said six Indian nationals have lost their lives while one remains missing in "various incidents".
At an inter-ministerial briefing here, Additional Secretary (Gulf), MEA, Aseem R Mahajan, also said, "Late yesterday night, we received information regarding the tragic demise of an Indian national, during an attack in Riyadh on March 18." He, however, did not elaborate upon the circumstances of this death.
"We express our deepest condolences to the family of the deceased. Our Mission in Riyadh is in touch with the family and closely co-ordinating with local authorities for the early return of the mortal remains to India," he said.
On Friday, the Indian Embassy in Riyadh also said that an Indian national was killed in Saudi Arabia due to the “recent events of March 18”.
In a social media post, the Indian Mission expressed its “deepest condolences on the tragic demise of an Indian national in Riyadh due to recent events on March 18".
A day earlier, the Indian embassy said alerts were received by residents in Riyadh and some other regions on Wednesday. “The Indian community is advised to remain calm and composed,” the embassy said.
Mahajan also told reporters in Delhi that "six Indian nationals have lost their lives and one is missing in various incidents".
"Our missions in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Iraq, and the UAE are in regular touch with the concerned authorities regarding the missing Indian national and for the early repatriation of mortal remains of the deceased Indian nationals to India," he said.
Less than a week ago, the MEA official had told reporters in an inter-ministerial briefing on the West Asia situation that five Indian nationals had lost their lives while one is missing in various incidents.
The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israel combine launched military strikes on Iran. In retaliation, Tehran has targeted Gulf countries hosting US military bases.
Energy and other civilian infrastructure in the Gulf region have also come under attack during this conflict that has stretched into three weeks, with no end to it in sight.
Since February 28, around three lakh passengers have returned from the region to India, Mahajan said.
