Polling in the election to the Dharwad Local Authorities Constituency of the Legislative Council concluded peacefully in the three districts of Dharwad, Haveri and Gadag on Friday with 99.68% of voters turning up to exercise their franchise.
Of the total of 7,476 voters, including 3,617 male and 3,859 female, 7,448 voters [3,608 male and 3,840 female] came out to cast their votes. According to a press release, Haveri district recorded the highest polling percentage of 99.85 followed by 99.59% in Gadag and 99.31% in Dharwad district.
Beginning on a slow note in the morning, polling picked pace later and crossed the 50% mark by 1 p.m. In the post-lunch session, polling picked up further and concluded with 99.68% at the end of the day.
The dual-seat constituency sitting MLC Pradeep Shettar is seeking re-election as BJP candidate, while Congress has fielded Saleem Ahmed in the place of Srinivas Mane, who got elected from Hangal Assembly segment.
The other candidates in the fray are Shivakumar Talawar, Fakkereddi V. Attigeri (both Janata Party), Irapppa Gubber, Basavaraj Kotagi, Mallikarjun Haveri, Mahesh Joshi, Manjunath Admani and Virupakshagouda Patil (all Independents).
Polling was held in 504 polling stations in the constituency as per COVID-19 protocol.
Chairman of Legislative Council Basavaraj Horatti, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, the former Chief Minister Jagadeesh Shettar, Handloom and Textiles Minister Shankar Patil Munenakopp, Members of Legislative Assembly Arvind Bellad, Amrut Desai, Prasad Abbayya, Srinivas Mane, C.M. Nimbannavar, Prasad Abbayya and others cast their votes.
Deputy Commissioner of Dharwad and Returning Officer Nitesh Patil visited several polling stations in the district and monitored polling. Elaborate security arrangements had been made to ensure free and fair elections. There were no reports of any untoward incident.
Counting
Counting of votes will take place on Tuesday next at the University of Agricultural Sciences in Dharwad. As ballot papers are used to cast preferential votes, counting is likely to take time to conclude.
