BENGALURU: The BBMP election on Saturday was mostly peaceful, barring a few incidents near polling stations where police had to resort to lathicharge.
In some of the wards, including Jagjeevanram Nagar, KR Puram and Whitefield, the party workers got into a heated argument near the polling booths during polling hours and the police resorted to lathicharge to disperse the crowd.
Tension also gripped Goripalya in JJ Nagar when Congress and JD(S) workers got into a verbal duel. Congress candidate Seema’s husband Altaf and JD(S) candidate Arif even tried to assault each other, but senior police officers controlled the situation with a lathicharge.
4 Congmen Held
Whitefield police arrested four Congress workers after they threw stones at a Tempo Traveller which they suspected was carrying money to be distributed among voters. Police and Election Commission officers checked the vehicle but found nothing. Police resorted to lathicharge here as well.
At a polling booth in Marenahalli near Vijayanagar, Congress workers alleged that BJP members were distributing saffron colour T-shirts to the public. They even started protesting. Police personnel lathicharged the crowd here too.
Rs 20 Lakh Seized
Peenya police seized a government vehicle carrying Rs 20 lakh cash on Saturday morning, but the driver managed to escape. Police sources said the money belongs to a government department and investigating is on.
Deve Gowda Protests Too
JD(S) leader H D Deve Gowda protested in front of Jeevan Bima Nagar police station after police arrested four members of his party and seized Rs 2 lakh cash from them. Police suspect that the money was meant for distribution. Deve Gowda, however, demanded that the workers be released. He said the money was given by him for election expenses. He claimed that Congress was behind the arrests.
In another incident, Rajarajeshwari Nagar police arrested the husband of a JD(S) candidate for allegedly distributing cash.
On Friday midnight, Jeevan Bima Nagar Police had arrested three JD(S) workers for allegedly distributing cash seeking support for the candidate Ayesha Begum. They were released on Saturday on bail.
MLA Assaults Man
BJP MLA S R Vishwanath, whose wife is contesting the election, allegedly assaulted a man in Choudeshwari ward. A group of youngsters had brought some rowdy elements near a booth. Vishwanath allegedly slapped one of them.
Members Assault Each Other
Congress and BJP workers tried to assault each other at Donnanekundi (Ward No. 192) over bringing fake voters to the polling booth. Police detained the suspected. fake voters.
More Protests
MLA Satish Reddy and his followers protested in front of the police station in Begur claiming that a few rowdys were troubling voters in Kammanahalli Ward No. 192.
Later, the BJP legal cell filed a complaint with the Election Commission. BJP workers also protested in front the police station in Mangammanapalya, saying that the police resorted to lathicharge unnecessarily.
Two Dead Near Polling booths
A businessman who had come to a polling booth to vote died after the branch of a tree fell on him at BBMP Junior College and High School in Tasker Town. Fayaz (32) was rushed to Bowring Hospital where he was declared brought dead. In another incident, an elderly man, Narayanappa, a resident of Vrushabhavathi Layout (Ward No. 102) died due to cardiac arrest after he came out of the polling booth.
Twitterati Prod Bengalureans to Vote
The Twitter world was abuzz with those enthused by the Saturday polls. The hashtag #BBMP elections was trending on the number one spot from 3 am to 8.20 am, according to Trendinalia India, which analyses tweets in India. The hashtag continued trending on the second, third, fourth and fifth spots and was last spotted on the sixth spot at 11.20 am till it dropped off Twitter’s top 10 radar. Politicians, administrators and top cops were on Twitter, showing their inked fingers.