Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru/Udupi (MS)

Mangaluru/Udupi, Oct 22: Polling for the MLC by-election took place peacefully on Monday in the twin districts, with a voter turnout of 97.91%. However, gram panchayat (GP) members of Jadkal and Keradi in Udupi district boycotted the polls in protest against the implementation of the Kasturi Rangan Report.

Out of 6,032 registered voters, 5,906 cast their votes. This by-election was held to fill the MLC seat vacated by Kota Srinivas Poojary, who resigned after being elected as a Member of Parliament.

As the voters consisted of local body members, polling proceeded briskly, with 90% of votes cast by afternoon. In some polling booths, 100% turnout was achieved by noon, but staff were required to remain until 4 pm as per regulations.

Karnataka Assembly Speaker U T Khader cast his vote at the Ullal City Municipality, while MP Brijesh Chowta, MLAs Vedavyas Kamath, Dr Y Bharat Shetty, and MLCs Ivan D’Souza and Manjunatha Bhandary cast their votes at the MCC polling booth.

Sharath, a member of Kokkada gram panchayat, cast his vote before proceeding to his wedding, which was scheduled for the same day.

In Udupi district, a polling percentage of 96.57% was recorded. MP Kota Srinivas Poojary cast his vote at the Saligrama town panchayat office. Out of the 2,480 registered voters from local bodies in Udupi, 2,395 cast their votes.

None of the taluks in Udupi district achieved 100% polling. In Byndoor and Kundapur, 29 and 17 members, respectively, did not vote.

Byndoor tahsildar Pradeep Kumar and taluk panchayat CEO Bharati visited the Jadkal and Keradi gram panchayats to request members to participate in the vote, but their appeals were declined as the members remained firm in their demand for the withdrawal of the Kasturi Rangan Report.