Nanjangud/ Gundlupet – An elderly woman who returned home after casting her vote in the Gundlupet by-election yesterday died following a heart attack. The 83-year-old woman Devamma hailed from Hangala village.

During her election campaign, Congress candidate Dr. Geetha Mahadevaprasad had visited Devamma’s house and had urged her to vote along with her family members. Accordingly, Devamma went to the polling booth along with her grandson in a car as she was unable to walk.

Devamma has four sons and 10 grandchildren and her husband Bellappa had expired 10 years ago. According to her family members, she had expressed her desire to vote for  Geetha Mahadevaprasad and had requested them to take her to the polling booth at around 10.30 am.

After voting, she came home and asked for drinking water as she was exhausted. She died as soon as she drank water, family members said. Hearing the news, Dr. Geetha Mahadevaprasad visited the house and paid her last respects.

LATHI CHARGE: Though the by-election was largely peaceful, Congress and BJP workers had heated exchanges near the Government Higher Primary School in Gundlupet town. The Police rushed to the spot and resorted to mild lathi-charge to disperse the crowd. Two Congress workers Sadiq and Mubarak were injured in the melee.

Money was being distributed to voters on the polling day too. Villagers spotted one person distributing cash and entering the names in a notebook. They caught hold of him and handed him over to the Police. Later, he was identified as Marashetti of Milk Producers Cooperative Society and he told the Police that he was working in favour of Congress party.

A couple in Madrahalli village in Gundlupet had a wish to vote together. They were not aware that this was prohibited. The couple tried to argue with the Polling Officers. A firm ‘no’ from the Officers resulted in the couple voting individually.

RECORD TURNOUT: A record turnout was witnessed in the by-polls to Nanjangud (Reserved) and Gundlupet   (General) Assembly constituencies. While the polling percentage was 87.10 in Gundlupet, it was 77.45 in Nanjangud.

In Nanjangud, there are 2,00,498 voters including 1,01,267 men and 99,231 women and in Gundlupet, there are 2,00,862 voters including 1,00,144 men, 1,00,701 women and 17 others.

The by-elections were free from the usual complaints of missing names in the voters’ list. Also, a majority of voters carried their Aadhaar cards instead of EPIC cards that were one of the identity proofs for voting. This avoided confusion, paving the way for smooth voting across the two constituencies.

NANJANGUD VOTING STATISTICS

Turnout Male Female Total

Voting till 5 pm 79,554 75,518 1,55,072

Final numbers 80,142 76,173 1,56,315

Poll percentage 78.62% 76.27% 77.45%