• Out of 20,678 voters in 4 districts, 12,938 are men, 7,735 women & 5 transgenders
• Ban orders around counting centre on June 12

Mysuru:- Nearly a month after the Assembly polls, the teachers of Mysuru region are voting for the election to the Legislative Council seat from South Teachers Constituency today.

A total of 20,678 voters from Mysuru, Mandya, Hassan and Chamarajanagar districts are eligible for exercising their franchise.

Polling began on a moderate note at 7 am this morning in all the four districts comprising the South Teachers Constituency, with 45 per cent voting recorded till 1 pm. The polling will conclude at 5 pm.

In all, there are nine candidates in the fray. Sitting MLC Marithibbegowda is seeking re-election contesting on a JD(S) ticket while the Congress has fielded M. Lakshmana and the BJP B. Niranjanmurthy.

There are six Independent candidates in the fray — A.H. Gopalakrishna, D.K. Tulasappa, Dr. S.B.M. Prasanna (Dr. Ajay Prasanna), Prof. Mahadev, M.N. Ravishankar and P.A. Sharath Raj.

The polling is taking place at 42 centres located across the four districts with 18 centres in Mysuru District, 9 in Mandya, 10 in Hassan and 5 in Chamarajanagar.

Of the 18 centres in Mysuru District, 10 are in Mysuru city alone.

Out of the total 20,678 voters, 12,938 are men; 7,735 are women and others 5. The voters were provided with ballot papers to cast their votes in order of preference of 1, 2 and 3 against the names of the candidates, by using a violet colour sketch pen given at the polling centres.

Regional Commissioner P. Hemalatha, who is also the Returning Officer (RO), said that unlike previous elections, NOTA option is introduced in this election. The counting of votes will be taken up at Maharani’s College of Commerce and Management on Valmiki Road in Vinayakanagar at 8 am on June 12, she added.

The respective district administrations have made elaborate arrangements for free and fair polling.

In Mysuru, the district administration had declared June 6 to 8 as dry days, banning sale of liquor from 5 pm on June 6 to 5 pm on June 8.

Elsewhere across the State, the biennial election to the Legislative Council seats from South-West Teachers, South-East Teachers, North-East Graduates, South-West Graduates and Bangalore Graduates Constituencies are being held today.

All the three major parties — Congress, JD(S) and BJP — have fielded candidates in all the six seats. Although the Congress and JD(S) have formed a coalition government in the State, they are fighting each other in these elections.

There are 22 candidates contesting in Bengaluru Graduates Constituency (65,323 voters), 14 candidates in South-East Teachers (19,402 voters), 12 candidates in South-West Teachers (20,481 voters), 8 candidates in South-West Graduates (67,185 voters) and 5 candidates in North-East Graduates (82,054 voters) Constituencies.

Ban orders

The counting of votes polled in the election to the Legislative Council seat from South Teachers Constituency will take place at Maharani’s College of Commerce and Management on Valmiki Road in Vinayakanagar  here on June 12.

The City Police have imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC around the counting centre from 6 am on June 12 to 6 am on June 13, in order to facilitate smooth counting and to maintain Law and Order.

Accordingly, gathering in groups of more than 5 persons, taking out victory processions, bursting of crackers, carrying of any kind of explosives, making provocative speeches, use of audio systems, holding bike rallies etc., have been banned in 200 metre radius of the counting centre.

Action will be taken against those persons found violating the prohibitory orders, according to a press release from the City Police Commissioner’s Office.