The highest voter turnout in Dakshina Kannada (DK) would prove to be a blessing for the BJP, DK BJP unit president Pratapsimha Nayak stressed on Friday.
He told reporters at the party’s election office that the district had registered a voter turnout of 77.18 per cent, which is the highest ever in state.
The voter turnout in Puttur and Sullia Assembly constituencies were also more than the previous elections. Thus the Lok Sabha election results will be a repetition of the 2009 elections, he said
“BJP candidate Nalin Kumar Kateel will win with a lead of one lakh votes,” Nayak added.
He also thanked the district administration for initiating many programmes under SVEEP and contributing to the highest-ever voter turnout. The Narendra Modi wave is also the reason for the participation of more voters in this elections. “As many as 87,777 youths had exercised their franchise,” Nayak said and added that voter turnout would have crossed 80 per cent if some names were not deleted from the voters list. Nayak said the Congress would learn a lesson or two from this election for making baseless allegations against BJP leaders during the electioneering.
Legal action will be initiated against the Congress leaders for conspiring and being involved in the release of a defamatory CD of Kateel, he said.
DK Voters Better Their Previous Best
With 77.19 per cent of the 15.64 lakh electorate casting their votes on Thursday, Dakshina Kannada bettered its previous best polling by three per cent.In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, Dakshina Kannada had registered 74.46 per cent polling and this had helped the district top the list of 28 parliamentary seats. In the 2013 assembly elections, it witnessed a slight growth to register at 74.78 per cent.As other assembly constituencies had done better, DK was ranked 13th in the list. All eight assembly constituencies registered a moderate increase in polling figures compared to previous hustings. Women outnumbered men, with 6.11 lakh of the total 7.90 voters exercising their franchise. Barring Puttur, Beltangady and Sullia Assembly segments, women outnumbered male voters in the remaining five Assembly segments.