BENGALURU: Will Shimoga see the highest voter turnout in the state in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, like it did in 2019? The answer will be known on Tuesday when the constituency goes to the polls along with 13 other parliamentary segments in the state in the third phase of Lok Sabha elections.
Election officials, political parties and experts are looking at the constituency not just for the voter turnout, but also the intense battle here among sitting MP BY Raghavendra, Congress candidate Geetha Shivarajkumar and BJP rebel candidate and former deputy chief minister KS Eshwarappa.
The constituency saw a voter turnout of 76.58% in 2019 and 72.36% in 2014. Chikkodi recorded the highest voter turnout of 74.30% in 2014, but slipped to the second position with 75.62% in 2019. Chikkodi is another constituency to look out for, where the battle is between Priyanka Jarkiholi, daughter of minister Satish Jarkiholi, and sitting MP and BJP candidate Annasaheb Shankar Jolle.
Raichur has the second highest number of voters at 20,10,103, after Gulbarga with 20,98,202. But Raichur recorded the lowest voter turnout in 2019 and 2014 polls at 58.34% and 52.32%, respectively.
The least number of voters are in Uttara Kannada at 16,41,156. But the constituency saw a voter turnout of 74.16%, and 69.04% in the 2019 and 2014 polls. Experts and election officials pointed out that the voter turnout in the 14 constituencies of Kittur and Kalyana Karnataka and Malnad regions is generally better than the 14 other constituencies in the state that went to the polls in the second phase of elections on April 26.
Well-known political expert Sandeep Shastry said there is no empirical evidence to show the correlation between voter turnout and results. “In Phase-3, political temperatures will be more intense than the atmospheric temperature. Weather will have little impact on the turnout, like it did in Phase 2.”
The rising temperature will be a matter of concern not just for election officials, but also voters. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a heatwave alert for most parts of the state between May 6 and 8. The department has warned that Bidar, Kalaburagi, Vijayapura, Yadgir, Raichur, Bagalkot, Koppal, Ballari, Chikkaballapur, Bengaluru and Kolar will see high temperatures.