About 77% voter turnout in bypolls in 3 Assembly segments

Bengaluru: An estimated 76.9 per cent voters turned out till 5 pm in three Assembly segments of Karnataka where bypolls were held on Wednesday, election officials said. More than seven lakh voters were eligible to cast their votes in about 770 polling stations in Shiggaon, Sandur and Channapatna, where a total of 45 candidates were in the fray.

While Channapatna recorded a record 84.26 per cent voter turnout, it was 75.07 per cent in Shiggaon, and 71.47 per cent in Sandur, the officials said. By-polls for Sandur, Shiggaon, and Channapatna were necessitated, as the seats fell vacant following the election of their respective representatives -- E Tukaram of Congress, former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai of BJP, and Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy of JD(S) -- to Lok Sabha in the May elections.

Channapatna has the highest number of 31 candidates in the fray, while Sandur and Shiggaon have six and eight contenders, respectively. Police made elaborate security arrangements in the three segments for the smooth conduct of the polls. The by-polls witnessed a straight fight between the ruling Congress and BJP in Sandur and Shiggaon segments, while in Channapatna, JD(S), which is part of the NDA, is in contest against the grand old party.

“We (Congress) will win all the three seats. I have campaigned in the three segments. Looking at the response from the people, I’m confident that we will win all three seats,” Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told reporters in Mysuru. Among the three segments, Channapatna is considered to be a ‘high profile’, where the contest is between C P Yogeshwara, a five time MLA from the segment and former minister, who joined the Congress quitting BJP recently, and actor-turned -politician Nikhil Kumaraswamy, who is Kumaraswamy’s son and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda’s grandson.

Yogeshwara, after casting his vote, said there was a “good atmosphere” and he felt that the people of Channapatna were with the Congress government and with him. He said that his personal stake was involved in the election along with that of the Congress party and the government, as this was also the home district of Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar.

Stating that “political developments and pressure” from party workers led him to enter the poll fray, Nikhil Kumaraswamy said on getting an opportunity to represent the constituency, he would honestly work for the welfare of the people of the segment and fulfill their expectations.

BJP’s Bharath Bommai, son of Basavaraj Bommai, had a direct fight against Congress’ Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan, who had faced defeat against the former chief minister in the 2023 Assembly polls, in Shiggaon.

Expressing confidence about his son’s win with a big margin, Basavaraj Bommai hit out at the ruling Congress accusing it of using “government machinery, money power and also caste” during campaigning.

“The entire government, ministers and legislators were here, the government had stopped functioning, it seemed as though Vidhana Soudha was locked...ministers and legislators had come with money bags. Disregarding democratic principles they conspired to win the polls in the name of money and caste....CM Siddaramaiah has stooped to such low. People will defeat them,” he said.

With Nikhil Kumaraswamy and Bharath Bommai contesting, the third generation of Gowda and Bommai families is in the fray in this by-poll. Both their fathers and grandfathers have served as chief ministers in the past.

In Sandur, Bellary MP Tukaram’s wife E Annapurna of Congress is contesting from the seat vacated by her husband, against BJP state ST Morcha president Bangaru Hanumanthu, who is considered close to party leader and former mining baron G Janardhana Reddy.