Pics: Umesh Marpalli / Silvester D'Souza / R B Jagadish
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi
Updated
Udupi, Apr 17: At the end of the polling day, Udupi-Chikmagalur constituency recorded a turnout of 73.94 percent.
Among the Assembly constituencies, Karkala witnessed the highest turnout of almost 79 percent while Chikmagalur was the lowest at 63.33 percent.
The final statistics of voting percentage in the Assembly constituencies are as follows:
Udupi - 76.81 percent
Kaup - 76.94 percent
Kundapur - 76.31 percent
Karkala - 78.99 percent
Sringeri - 76.40 percent
Mudigere - 72.19 percent
Chikmagalur - 63.33 percent
Tarikere - 70.56 percent
Update: 6 pm
By 5 pm, Udupi-Chikmagalur constituency polled 69.19 percent.
The voting has been largely peaceful.
Voters, young and old flocked to the polling booths with much enthusiasm throughout the day. Among the oldest voters was 99-year-old Nagaratnamma, mother of Manipal University estate manager Jai Vittal.
The area-wise statistics are as follows:
Udupi - 72.48 percent
Kundapur - 72. 01 percent
Kaup - 71.30 percent
Karkala - 75.73 percent
Sringeri - 72.06 percent
Mudigere - 69.69 percent
Chikmagalur - 56.61 percent
Tarikeri - 63.64 percent
Update: 1.45 pm
By 1 pm, Udupi-Chikmagalur constituency saw a polling of 45 percent.
The voting has been largely peaceful and no untoward incidents have been reported so far.
Interestingly, one of the voters was a bridegroom. Shameer Ahmed, who is employed as mechanical engineer in Dubai, came to cast his vote at Kaup government higher primary school dressed in his wedding attire. He came to vote before proceeding to the wedding hall, where he tied the knot with Dr Anisa Parveen from Mangalore.
Speaking to reporters, Shameer said that voting is every person's duty and one should not miss it for any reason whatsoever. "It is very important to vote. It's my wedding today, but I told my family members that I will first vote and then go to the wedding hall," he said.
After he cast his vote, the officials who were on election duty wished and congratulated him on his wedding. Watch Shameer's video at the top of this page.
The area-wise percentages are as follows:
Udupi - 42.89 percent
Kaup - 41.77 percent
Kundapur - 42 percent
Karkala - 46.24 percent
Sringeri - 42 percent
Mudigere - 32.27 percent
Chikmagalur - 27.51 percent
Tarikere - 26.67 percent
Update: 11.30 am
By 11 am, the voter turnout in Udupi-Chikamagalur constituency was recorded at an overall 25 percent.
The constituency-wise percentages are as follows:
Udupi - 21.80 percent
Kaup - 24.4 percent
Kundapur - 20.05 percent
Karkala - 23.9 percent
Sringeri - 13 percent
Mudigere - 11 percent
Chikamagalur - 9.6 percent
Tarikere - 8.29 percent
Update: 9. 45 am
Udupi, Apr 17: The Udupi-Chikmagalur constituency recorded a voter turnout of 14 percent in the first two hours of polling.
The percentages in different Udupi and Chikmagalur districts is as follows:
Udupi - 7.4 percent
Kaup - 4.45 percent
Kundapur - 8.6 percent
Karkala - 15 percent
Sringeri - 6.3 percent
Mudigere - 7.98 percent
Chikmagalur - 1.34 percent
Tarikere - 1.4 percent
First Update
Lok Sabha 2014: Polling in Udupi-Chikmagulur constituency gets under way
Pics: Umesh Marpalli / Silvester D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi
Udupi, Apr 17: The voting for the much-awaited Lok Sabha elections in Udupi-Chikmagalur constituency began here on Thursday April 17.
The constituency has 13,86,516 voters, of which 6,78,711 are male and 7,07,742 female. The turnout was relatively low during the first one hour.
Congress candidate Jayaprakash Hegde voted at government school in Kodgi.
Sri Vishweshteertha Swamiji of Pejawar Math voted at North School.
Bishop of Udupi diocese Dr Gerald Isaac Lobo cast his vote at TA Pai Modern School.
Union minister for transport Oscar Fernandes and his wife Blossom cast their votes at Vivekananda Higher Primary School while district incharge minister Vinaykumar Sorake voted at Government Girls' High School.
There are altogether 11 candidates in fray in the constituency. They are: Jayaprakash Hegde of Congress, Shobha Karandlaje of BJP, Dhananjay Kumar of JD(S), Gurudev S H of Aam Aadmi Party, Zakir Hussain of BSP, S Vijaykumar of CPI, Comrade C J Jagannath of CPI(M), and Independent candidates M D Mainuddin Khan alias Asfiya, Manjunatha G, Srinivas Poojary and Sudheer Kanchan.
Though Jayaprakash Hegde, the sitting MP enjoys much support in the constituency, the battle is expected to be a close one with Shobha Karandlaje, who is banking mainly on the high percentage of women voters, expected to give a good fight along with seasoned politician Dhananjay Kumar who is primarily counting on JD(S) popularity in Chikmagalur.
The polling will go on till 6 pm.
About 4,806 staff will be on duty. Webcasting system has been arranged in both the districts. There are 532 micro observers, of which 233 are for Udupi and 299 for Chikamagalur.
Security has been tightened especially in Naxal-affected and highly sensitive areas with deployment of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and State Armed Police force (KSRP and Kerala SAP).