Southern States - Karnataka

Low turnout for N.R. byelection

By Our Staff Correspondent

MYSORE May 31. Low turnout and complaints of names missing from the voters' list marked polling in the byelection from the Narasimharaja Assembly constituency here today.

The Deputy Commissioner, B. Basavaraju, said the turnout was 42.01 per cent. Only 82,799 of the electorate of 1,97,940 voted. This was the lowest-ever turnout for an election from Narasimharaja constituency.

Though the polling process was largely peaceful, there were many complaints about names missing from the voters' list in several parts of the constituency, leading to commotion outside the polling booths.

Polling began at 8 a.m. on a dull note, and failed to pick up momentum. While 33 per cent of the voters had voted by 2 p.m., about 40 per cent polling was reported by 4 p.m. The turnout was affected to a certain extent by a downpour in several parts of the constituency from 4 p.m. to 4.45 p.m., Mr. Basavaraju said. "The final figure may not cross 45 per cent, he said."

The Congress party's Tanvir Sait, the Janata Parivar candidate, E. Maruthi Rao Pawar, and the BJP nominee, B.P. Manjunath, are among nine candidates in the fray for the byelection which was necessitated by the death of the veteran Congressman, Azeez Sait.

Though minor altercations between supporters of rival political parties were witnessed near some polling booths, no major law and order problem was reported. A fracas between JD(S) workers and Congress workers was reported in Tilak Nagar, where the JD(S) accused the Mahila Congress workers of distributing money to lure voters. The Congress workers claimed that they were only distributing pamphlets and charged the JD(S) workers with abusing them.

But, complaints about names missing from the voters' list were rampant. The angry voters demanded a right to exercise their franchise and produced their voter identity cards. When the polling officers denied them a chance to vote, they threatened to prevent others from casting their vote, leading to a commotion in Shantinagar and Kailaspuram. However, police rushed to the spot and defused the tense situation.

Several people complained that they had voted in the Mysore City Corporation elections held on May 3, 2001, but they were surprised to find their names missing from the voters' list today.

In quite a few cases, the name of the husband was on the list, but the names of the wife and other family members were missing.

Mr. Basavaraju refused to attribute the poor turnout to the missing names. He said the reason for the poor turnout was the Election Commission's decision to make proof of identity mandatory for voting, indifference of the voters, and the unexpected rains towards the close of polling.

Regarding the names missing from the voters' list, Mr. Basavaraju said the Government carried out a thorough revision of the voters' list by visiting every house in 2001. The revised list was published on January 1, 2002, and the public was asked to file their objections on addition or deletion of names within one month.

The Returning Officer for the byelection, Chandrashekar, who is also the Secretary of the Mysore City Corporation Council which conducted the revision, told The Hindu that people had not bothered to verify the revised voters' list and file applications for addition of names. Hence, the confusion, he said.

However, the revised voters' list of 2002 contains the names of 1.97 lakh voters as against 1.75 lakh names in the voters' list of 1998.

Reacting to the complaints of missing names, Mr. Chandrashekar said there were several people in the constituency who resided in rented houses and had changed their residence. "It is their duty to inform the authorities about the change of address and get their names added to the voters' list."

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• 50.91 p.c. make the grade in SSLC
• Low turnout for N.R. byelection
• Murder: Police seek Rai's custody
• `Faulty' voters' list causes tension
• Pawar seeks re-election
• Murder: Police seek Rai's custody
• Rai's family to fight for his release
• 1892 pact on Cauvery waters not binding: CM
• Voters happy with my work: H.K. Patil

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu