Bengaluru, Nov 13 (IANS): Major political parties in Karnataka, the ruling Congress, NDA partners BJP and JD (S) brace for a litmus test as voters are all set in three assembly seats to exercise their franchise in by-elections.
The curtains for the silent door-door campaigning came down in the evening and voters are set to cast their votes on Wednesday in high-profile Channapatna, Shiggaon and Sandur seats.
The main contest is between the Congress and BJP and JD (S) alliance in Karnataka. The Congress has fielded its candidates in three seats. Two contestants are in the fray from the BJP and one from the JD (S).
The State Election Commission has ordered paid leave on the voting day for voters of three assembly segments. The polling officers have obtained the EVMs and are already stationed at their respective polling booths.
The voting will be held between 7 am and 6 pm on Wednesday.
The Channapatna seat is witnessing a direct fight between Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil Kumaraswamy, who is contesting under the JD (S) symbol as NDA candidate and CP Yogeshwara of the Congress party.
The contest has become a matter of prestige between Dy CM and State Congress President DK Shivakumar’s family and former PM HD Deve Gowda's family. Nikhil is the grandson of Gowda.
Union Minister Kumaraswamy who represented the seat earlier has been camping in the constituency since the announcement of the election. Shivakumar had begun touring every corner of the constituency well ahead.
The campaigning turned bitter as former PM Deve Gowda, Kumaraswamy and Shivakumar were engaged in verbal war. Deve Gowda had declared that once the bypolls results were announced, the Congress government would collapse. The result in this segment is eagerly awaited.
There are a total of 2.32 lakh voters in the Channapatna seat including 1.20 lakh women and 8 third gender voters. The Vokkaliga and Muslim votes are in large numbers in the constituency. There are 208 polling booths in the constituency.
The BJP has fielded former CM and BJP MP Basavaraj Bommai’s son Bharat Bommai as its candidate and the Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan is the Congress party contestant. The result is crucial for BJP and Basavaraj Bommai as he had held the seat earlier.
Basavaraj Bommai is camping in the constituency and working tirelessly to ensure the victory of his son. The Congress party suffered a setback initially as a senior Congress leader from the constituency Ajjampeer Khadri rebelled and filed for nomination as an independent candidate.
Khadri also vowed to defeat the Congress. However, with the intervention of CM Siddaramaiah, the crisis was sorted out and later the Congress leaders carried out a spirited campaign. However, BJP State President B.Y. Vijayendra had stated that the BJP has already won the seat.
There are a total of 2.37 lakh voters in Shiggaon among which 1.16 lakh are women and 6 are third gender voters. The voting would be held in the 196 polling stations across the constituency.
Sandur seat, located in Bellary district, so far considered a fortress of the Congress party is being challenged by the BJP this time which has never won the seat to date. Sandur is ST reserve seat and the Maharshi Valmiki Tribal Welfare board scam is likely to impact the results in a big way.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had camped in Sandur for a week and carried out intense campaigning as the results here are crucial for the Congress party facing the allegation of tribal welfare scam.
The Congress has fielded Annapurna Tukaram, wife of former minister E. Tukaram, who resigned to contest the general election. Tukaram defeated prominent BJP leader B. Sriramulu. The BJP has fielded Bangaru Hanumanthu, the State ST Morcha President.
There are 2.36 lakh voters in the Sandur constituency and 1.18 lakh are women. There are 29 voters belonging to the third gender category. There are 153 polling stations.