Mysuru: Voting for the by-election for Ward 32 of the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) began at 7 am today at 12 polling booths. Voting will continue till 5 pm and the counting will be held on July 5.  

Voting was peaceful and only a handful people voted at the beginning of the polling and till around 12 noon, only 2,000 voters had exercised their franchise. According to Police, till 1 pm, 24 percent polling was recorded. There are 10,201 voters including 5,053 men and 5,048 women. Interestingly, only supporters of candidates were seen in large numbers than voters at the polling booths.

Ward 32 covers Gokulam 2nd Stage, Vontikoppal, Adi Pampa Road, Kalidasa Road, Valmiki Road and parts of V.V. Mohalla. The by-election was necessitated following the conviction of C. Mahadesh alias Avva Madesha who was Ward 32 JD(S) Corporator in a murder case. Following the conviction, his membership in the Civic Body was cancelled.

Whoever is elected as a new Corporator will have a one-year-three-month term.

JD(S) has taken it as a prestige issue and is desperate to retain the seat, it has fielded party town spokesperson SBM Manju as its candidate. While the BJP has fielded K. Madesh, former Mayor B.K. Prakash has contested from Congress, a party that has lost the Ward election twice. Other Independent candidates, who are in the fray, are Mangalamma from Bharatiya Dr. Ambedkar Janata Party and D.J. Mahabala Raj.

Polling booths were set up at Nirmala Convent, Government Higher Primary School at Vontikoppal and at Vontikoppal Government PU College. Among the 12 booths, six were identified as hyper-sensitive and all of them were at the Nirmala Convent. Polling officials said that the booth was declared hyper-sensitive as a large number of voters and supporters of candidates were expected there.

Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were used during the by-election and the administration issued 30 ballot units and 30 control units. Of these, 12 were sent to the respective polling booths and 18 were kept reserved (in case of malfunctioning).

Candidates S.B.M. Manju, K. Madesh and B.K. Prakash were wooing voters at Nirmala Convent polling station. They were accompanied by their respective party leaders including MLA Vasu, Mayor M.J. Ravikumar, and former MUDA Chairman L. Nagendra.

Fifty-six personnel managed the polling process with three personnel at each polling station. Indelible ink was applied on the little finger of the left hand.

As it is a sensitive ward, the City Police had made elaborate arrangements to maintain security. Apart from conducting a parade of rowdy-sheeters yesterday where they were warned of action if they create trouble, the Police conducted a flag march in the Ward yesterday evening to instil confidence among voters.

 

Today, over 60 Policemen including officers manned the security at polling booths. Each polling booth had one Head Constable and one Constable. This apart, one Sub-Inspector and one Inspector were supervising the polling process at the booths. Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) (Law and Order) Dr. H.T. Shekar and Narasimharaja Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Umesh G. Shet managed the overall law and order.

The entire poll process was videographed at all polling booths. While revenue officials were video-graphing the voting inside the booths, the Police were filming the outside crowd and queues.

Liquor sale was banned  in the ward from 7 am today till midnight. During the counting of votes on July 5, the ban will be effective between 6 am and 8 pm. The votes will be counted at Maharaja’s Sanskrit College on New Sayyaji Rao Road.