A voter turnout of 65.85 per cent was recorded by 5 p.m. in Mysuru Lok Sabha constituency during the largely peaceful polling held on Friday.
Voters, including a large number of senior citizens, started queuing up outside many polling booths across Mysuru city even before the scheduled start of polling at 7 am.
A majority of the voters had received their voting slips in advance and they faced little difficulty in identifying the booths designated to them.
Except for minor snags reported from a few booths, polling began on time across all 2,202 booths spread across the eight Assembly constituencies of the Lok Sabha segment at 7 a.m. and had reached 11.01 per cent in the first two hours by 9 a.m. The polling percentage progressed briskly to reach 25.09 by 11 a.m. before reaching 41.58 by 1 p.m.
Though there was a slight slump during the afternoon hours, the polling percentage reached 53.55 by 3 p.m. before reaching 65.85 per cent by 5 p.m.
Mysuru Lok Sabha constituency comprising Narasimharaja, Krishnaraja, Chamaraja, Chamundeshwari, Hunsur and Periyapatna Assembly segments in Mysuru district, besides Virajpet and Madikeri Assembly segments in neighbouring Kodagu has a total of 20.92 lakh eligible voters.
As polling continued till 6 p.m., the final voter turnout is awaited. While the voter turnout in Mysuru Lok Sabha constituency during 2019 elections was 69.5 per cent, Deputy Commissioner of Mysuru K.V. Rajendra said the authorities were expecting a high turnout of voters on Friday.
Urban constituencies like Narasimharaja, Krishnaraja, and Chamaraja also reported a good turnout by polling 61.71 per cent, 57.49 per cent and 53.03 per cent by 5 p.m.
The poll percentage was the highest in Periyapatna, which recorded a turnout of 76.08 till 5 p.m. followed by Hunsur at 72.2 per cent. Madikeri recorded 70.54 per cent while Virajpet registered a turnout of 70.22 per cent till 5 pm. The voter turnout in Chamundeshwar was 68.75 per cent till 5 pm.
BJP’s Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar is involved in a direct fight with Congress candidate M Lakshman.
City Police Commissioner Ramesh Banoth and Additional Superintendent of Mysuru District Police Nandini said polling remained by and large peaceful in the entire Lok Sabha constituency.
However, a minor skirmish was reported from Chamaraja Assembly constituency in the city when BJP and Congress workers clashed over the placing of the helpdesk near a polling booth.
After the confrontation, Chamaraja MLA Harish Gowda reached the spot and defused the tension.
Two die after voting
Two persons reportedly died after casting their votes.
Manohar, 55, a resident of B. Shettigeri village in Virajpet Assembly constituency had returned home after casting his vote around 11.45 a.m.. But by 11.55 am, he experienced chest pain at home and collapsed. Though he was immediately rushed to a hospital in Gonikoppa, he passed away en route, said a statement from the Deputy Commissioner of Mandya.
Similarly, a 90 year-old woman Puttamma had returned to her house in Bilikere after casting her vote on Friday morning. She is reported to have breathed her last after sometime.
Meanwhile, six in-patients of Manipal Hospital in Mysuru, who were eager to cast their votes, were assisted by the hospital authorities and the election officials to exercise their right by providing essential ambulance transportation and medical assistance.
