1 week ago
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The stage is set for the battle of ballots as Mysuru, Mandya and Chamarajanagar Lok Sabha constituencies will go to polls on Friday. All arrangements are in place for the Festival of Democracy that begins at 7 a.m. and goes on till 6 p.m.
The district administration in the three districts have taken elaborate steps for conducting the elections in a free and fair manner even as the last-minute preparations before the polling staff headed to their respective polling stations after the mustering process – handing over EVMs, VVPATs and other accessories - were monitored by the deputy commissioners of the respective districts.
Amidst the searing heat, voters will have to cast their ballots in 2,202 polling booths established across eight assembly constituencies in Mysuru and Kodagu districts that are part of the Mysuru Lok Sabha constituency.
Voters will exercise their franchise at 2,202 polling booths in Chamundeshwari, Krishnaraja, Chamaraja, Narasimharaja, Hunsur, and Periyapatna constituencies (all in Mysuru) and Madikeri and Virajpet (in Kodagu). A total of 20,92,222 voters are eligible to cast their ballot and they include 10,26,324 male, 10,65,714 female, and 184 others.
In total, 9,809 election staff, including 2,434 presiding officers (PROs), 2,482 APROs, and 4,893 polling officers have been appointed to conduct the polls. All these officers went to their respective booths after the mustering process, carrying EVMs, and polling materials in KSRTC buses arranged by the district administration.
Almost all the staff left the mustering centers by afternoon along with the police personnel who shall be guarding the booths.
Around 473 KSRTC buses, 33 MUVs and 79 mini buses had been deployed in Mysuru to ferry the polling staff to their booths.
K.R. Nagar in Mysuru district is part of Mandya Lok Sabha seat and H.D. Kote, Nanjangud, Varuna, and T. Narsipura, all part of Mysuru district, comes under Chamarajanagar Lok Sabha constituency. K.R. Nagar has 2,18,786 voters, including 1,08,008 male, 1,10,766 female, and 12 others while Varuna, T. Narsipura, Nanjangud, and H.D. Kote together comprise 9,01,866 voters, including 4,47,076 male, 4,54,745 female, and 45 others.
In Mysuru, Deputy Commissioner and Returning Officer K.V. Rajendra visited the mustering centres of Krishnaraja, Chamaraja, Narasimharaja, Nanjangud and Varuna and inspected the process.
While interacting with the polling staff who collected the EVMs and other essentials for the poll duty, Dr Rajendra advised the staff to conduct the polls as per the Election Commission’s guidelines. The staff also spoke to the Deputy Commissioner and got their doubts cleared. Police Commissioner B. Ramesh, MCC Commissioner N.N. Madhu and others were present.
Chamarajanagar is also set for the polls. At the mustering centre in the government first grade college in Chamarajanagar town, polling staff were seen heading to their respective booths coming under Gundlupet, Hanur, and Kollegal assembly constituencies carrying EVMs and other poll materials in buses.
Many booths in the constituency are sporting an attractive look thanks to the efforts put in by the district authorities for turning them special for improving voting percentage.
As the district is covered by 48 per cent of forest and is culturally rich, some booths portray the importance of forests and the tribal cultures by designing them on those themes.
In Mandya, Deputy Commissioner Kumara visited Mandya, K.R. Pet and Srirangapatna and inspected the mustering work.
