BENGALURU: A total of 2,59,52,958 voters will on Tuesday decide the fate of 227 candidates in Phase-3 of Lok Sabha elections in 14 parliamentary constituencies of Kitur and Kalyana-Karnataka and Malnad regions of the state.
Elections for the Shorapur Assembly constituency too will be held on May 7. Of the six candidates contesting, one each is from BJP and Congress, while four are independents.
Polling will be from 7 am till 6 pm. The biggest challenge for Election Commission officials and voters is combating the heatwave. While some political representatives have requested the Election Commission to extend voting beyond 6 pm, officials said no decision has been taken yet.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a severe heatwave alert for North Karnataka regions where the temperatures could go up to 45-46 degrees Celsius on the day of the polls. Officials in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka, said regular bulletins from IMD are being obtained and accordingly, all precautionary measures have been taken.
Arrangements for sufficient water, fans and shade have been made. Additional CEO Venkatesh Kumar R told The New Indian Express that each polling booth has been mapped to primary health centres, referral hospitals and district hospitals. The district administration has ensured all health centres have sufficient ambulances and medical staff on standby. Also, each polling booth will have an ASHA worker or Auxiliary Nurse Midwife worker, a medical kit with ORS and other supplies.
Election officials have also allowed parties to keep ORS and other medical facilities at their counters. But they have been directed not to influence or bribe voters with it.
To ensure fair elections and secrecy while voting, the CEO’s office has directed that no mobile phones will be allowed while casting votes. Returning officers have ensured that a separate tray or counter will be available for voters to keep their phones before voting. No smart watches are also allowed inside the voting area.
Of the 14 constituencies, Bijapur and Gulbarga are Schedule Caste reserved, Raichur and Bellary are Schedule Tribe reserved and the remaining -- Chikkodi, Belgaum, Bagalkot, Bidar, Koppal, Haveri, Dharwad, Uttara Kannada, Davanagere and Shimoga -- are general category.
The largest number of voters in this phase is in Gulbarga constituency at 20,98,202 and the lowest is in Uttara Kannada at 16,41,156. There are 6,90,929 young voters, 2,29,263 are aged above 85 and 3,43,966 are listed as People with Disabilities.
Of the 227 candidates, 206 are men and 21 women. BJP and Congress have 14 candidates each, Bahujan Samaj Party nine and 117 are independents. The highest number of candidates (30) is from Davangere, followed by Shimoga (23) and Bagalkot (22). Eight candidates each are contesting from Bijapur and Raichur.
To increase the voter turnout and help people find their booth, election officials have printed a QR code behind each voting slip, which when scanned will direct the voter to her/his booth using GPS technology. The CEO’s office has also launched the Chunavane app, which can be downloaded from Playstore. It gives the live status of the polling booth -- number of people in queue, parking facility and other details. Special theme-based booths - like Sakhi, youth and PwD -- have been set up. Signages have been put in all booths for voters to easily identify their voting rooms.
In Phase-2, two parliamentary constituencies of Bangalore Rural and Mysore-Kodagu had 100 per cent webcasting. But in Phase-3, no such special arrangement has been made. Webcasting, however, is being done in 60% of the booths. Over 1.90 lakh polling officials will be deployed on election duty at 28,269 polling booths. Also 65 companies and 50,000 police personnel have been deployed.
Election officials have also asked voters to use the Saksham app, in case voters need special facilities like wheelchairs, assistance and others. Senior citizens or specially abled too can opt for pick up and drop facility. Officials said ramps, wheelchairs, Braille, assistance for hearing impaired, sufficient lighting, sign language experts, assistants for specially abled, washrooms, water facility, seating arrangement and other essentials have been arranged at each booth.
Unlike in Phase-2, the fight between the two major parties -- BJP and Congress -- will be close and tough in this phase.