BENGALURU: Channapatna is poised for a monumental day as it braces for an unprecedented flood of voters surging into polling booths on Wednesday. The air is electric, with every household seemingly locked into this fiercely contested race, fuelling predictions of a historic turnout. With stakes extremely high, parties have unleashed an unparalleled mobilisation campaign, reaching every corner and rallying even the smallest clusters of voters.
In 2023, Channapatna with around 2.3 lakh voters saw around 80 per cent voting, with 1,97,796 ballots cast. Then JDS candidate HD Kumaraswamy won the election, polling around 96,000 votes, while BJP’s CP Yogeshwara trailed closely with 80,000, leaving Congress far behind with just 15,000 votes. This election, officials and party workers from both sides of the divide anticipate a massive voter turnout of well over two lakh. Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka, Manoj Meena, said, “Ramanagara district consistently sees high voter turnout, with figures above 80% in assembly and parliamentary elections.”
Workers from JDS, BJP and Congress have fully been activated on the ground to bring in voters. Sources in the JDS-BJP camp said, “We’re ready for Wednesday’s high turnout, with our booth-level workers fully engaged.”
Congress volunteers and teams associated with the party candidate Yogeshwara have swept across the constituency, reminding voters to come to the polling booth.
Adding to the spectacle, many voters whose names appear on the voter list, but are residing in Bengaluru, Mysuru and other cities, have returned to Channapatna for the big day.
The constituency’s voter demographics could play a defining role, with Vokkaligas constituting the largest voting bloc of approximately 1,05,000, followed by 38,000 Dalit voters, 28,000 Muslims, 12,000 Kurubas, 6,000 Scheduled Tribes, and the remaining are Thigalas, Ursus, Lingayats and other smaller communities.
Sources suggested that Vokkaligas, in particular, are expected to turn up in big numbers, setting the stage for what could be Channapatna’s most dynamic election yet. As dawn breaks, all eyes will be on Channapatna as every vote cast would alter its political landscape.