Bangalore (PTI): Campaigning in 66 Assembly segments in 10 Karnataka districts that go to the polls in the second phase on Friday ended on Wednesday. Over 1.1 crore electorate are eligible to exercise their franchise in the phase in which as many as 589 candidates are in the fray.

The most eagerly awaited contest is in Shikaripura in Shimoga district where BJP's chief ministerial candidate B S Yeddyurappa is challenged by former chief minister and state Samajwadi Party president S Bangarappa, who is also backed by the Congress and JD-S.

"It (Shikaripura) is easily the most eagerly watched contest in the assembly elections," said an analyst. Elaborate security arrangements have been made in central, coastal and Malnad regions and parts of north Karnataka where the BJP had bagged 37 seats followed by the Congress 22 and the JD-S 14, in the 2004 elections.

The districts where voting would take place are: Raichur, Koppal, Uttara Kannada, Bellary, Chitradurga, Davangere, Shimoga, Udupi, Chikmagalur and Dakshina Kannada. There was hectic campaigning by both Congress and BJP. Congress president Sonia Gandhi and AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi addressed public meetings harping on the stability plank.