BENGALURU: Polling in 14 constituencies of south and coastal Karnataka in Phase-2 Lok Sabha 2024 elections will begin at 7am and end at 6pm on Friday.
However, given the weather conditions and heat wave alert issued by the India Meteorological Department, officials at the Chief Electoral Officer’s (CEO) office said all those who enter the polling booth premises till 6pm will be allowed to vote beyond that time. To ensure smooth polling this time, keeping in mind previous incidents, the CEO’s office on Thursday announced that mobile phones will not be allowed inside the voting area. A tray will be kept on the table of the polling officer inside the booth, where voters will be asked to keep their phones before proceeding to the EVM.
According to the CEO’s office, 2,88,08,182 people are eligible to vote in Phase-2 elections in Karnataka. Of them, 1,44,17,530 are male, 1,43,87,585 female and 3,067 third gender voters. These voters will choose from 247 candidates (226 men and 21 women) in the 14 constituencies.
Chikkaballapura has the highest number of 29 candidates, followed by Bangalore Central (24) and Bangalore South (22). Dakshina Kannada constituency has the least number of 9 candidates.
Congress is contesting in 14 constituencies, BJP 11 and JDS three after its alliance with the saffron party.
30,602 booths in 14 constituencies...
The 14 constituencies are: Hassan, Mandya, Kolar, Udupi-Chikkamagaluru, Dakshina Kannada, Chitradurga, Tumakuru, Mysore-Kodagu, Chamarajanagar, Bangalore Rural, Bangalore North, Bangalore Central, Bangalore South and Chikkaballapura.
The largest & the smallest
Bangalore North is the largest constituency in Karnataka. It is also among the five largest in the country with 32,14,496 voters, followed by Bangalore Rural (28,02,580). Udupi-Chikkamagaluru has the lowest number of 15,85,162 voters.
“To ensure smooth polling in 30,602 booths in 14 constituencies, 1,39,495 election officials and 5,000 micro observers have been deployed. In all, 65 companies along with 50,000 police personnel have also been deployed. Web casting will be done in 9,701 booths. Web casting will be done in all booths in Bangalore Rural and Mysore-Kodagu constituencies. CCTvs have been installed in 1,370 booths,” said CEO Manoj Kumar Meena.
“To help people find their booths, for the first time in the Lok Sabha elections, we have printed the QR code on voters’ slips. This, when scanned, will help the voter navigate his way to the booth through GPS technology. We have launched the Chunavane App, which can be downloaded from the playstore, for people to find the status of polling booths — number of people waiting in queues, parking and other facilities. Facilities such as shelter, drinking water, washrooms, emergency medicines and ambulances have been arranged,” he said.
In each constituency, five booths will be managed by women, one by people with disabilities and one by the youth. Around 40 tribal booths have been set up in four districts and some booths have been created with special themes.
For specially-challenged voters, adequate arrangements, including ramps, wheelchairs, sign language experts, facility for attendants, braille, sufficient lighting and hearing aids, have been made. Through the Saksham App, 756 people have asked for wheelchairs, 489 have sought transport and 31 some special assistance.