Puttur: Will Never Join any Party - Shaku ; Trend in Favour of Congress - Bondala
Mangalore: The second phase of assembly election began with enthusiasm at all the 66 constituencies including the coastal part of the state on Friday, May 16. A total of 74 candidates are contesting in undivided Dakshina Kannada and voters will select 13 MLAs among them on Friday’s polling.
Voters rushed to the polling booths early in the morning to cast their votes. Therefore, heavy queue was found in almost all the polling booths in the city.
Meanwhile, Mangalore South Congress candidate cast his vote at Jeppu Infant Jesus Primary School with his wife Dr Kavitha at 7 am. Former minister Nagaraj Shetty cast his vote at Bejai Lourdes School, with his wife at 7.30 am. He offered puja in his house, before leaving for the polling booth.
Speaking to media persons, he said that Naxalism and terrorism have reached extreme levels in the state. Congress party, which is leading the UPA in the centre, has been failed to control these terror activities. Even BJP has lost two of its prominent activists at Seetanadi in Karkala taluk, owing to Naxal attack. This is a big blow to the party. Owing to all these factors, voters will definitely elect BJP this time, he expressed confidence.
Former MLAs J Krishna Palemar and Yogish Bhat cast their votes at Government Primary School located at Jail Road. Palemar also expressed hope of his victory in Mangalore North constituency where he is competing for the second time.Technical fault was found in the electronic voting machine at Jail Road where Krishna Palemar cast his vote. The presiding officer informed that this fault willl not affect the polling as it is a negligible problem.
Huge response for voting in the early hours of the day signified the possibility of good percentage of voting in the second phase. Poor response was found in Bangalore city during first phase of election. But Mangalore city has got good response in the early hours.