Bengaluru, Jun 3 (DHNS): The second and final phase of voting for the gram panchayat elections held in 15 districts in the State on Tuesday was by and large peaceful, with a voter turnout of 80 percent.
The polling had its share of colourful incidents, though. While gram panchayat elections are not held along party lines, political parties do keep a close vigil on them as they form the stepping stone for next year’s taluk and zilla panchayat elections.
State election commission sources said the exact turnout would be known on Wednesday afternoon, following the completion of the compilation process. The counting of votes will be taken up on June 5.
Repolling has been ordered in six booths—two in Chapetla gram panchayat in the Yadgir district and four in Holavanahalli in the Tumakuru district. It will be held between 7 am and 5 pm on June 4. In the Chitradurga district, the police had to resort to mild lathi-charge to disperse a mob that had gathered in front of a polling booth.
The cops also arrested one of the election candidates for snatching a ballot box and attempting to it take away at TG Colony within the Adiwala gram panchayat limits in the Hiriyur taluk.
Family members of former IAS officer D K Ravi boycotted the polls at the Doddakoppalu gram panchayat in Tumakuru in protest against the State government's attitude in rendering justice to them. Ravi was found dead under mysterious circumstances in his flat in Bengaluru in March.
In Shivamogga, there was good response from the electorate in the Maoist-affected polling centres of Yadur, Sulagod, Nittur and Karimane gram panchayats of Hosanagar taluk, Hosagadde and other areas of Theerthahalli.
Two persons were injured and three vehicles damaged at Ullesugur Tanda in the Shahapur taluk in Yadgir in a clash between two groups over a petty issue. A total of 18 transgenders exercised their franchise in the polls in the Chikkaballapur district.
Nearer home, at Nelamangala in Bengaluru (Rural), a jailed candidate was voted unanimously from Hyadalu. In all, as many as 42,211 gram panchayat seats went to polls on Tuesday. Voting in the remaining 15 districts were held last week.
Tuesday’s election witnessed Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) being used for the first time in the Bidar district. EVMs used in these polls are different from the those used in Assembly and Lok Sabha elections as they have multiple voting options.
The State government had made voting compulsory elections for the gram panchayat polls by amending the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act.
However, the turnout was nearly the same in 2010. The state government has decided not to take any punitive action on those who failed to exercise their franchise this time.