Karnataka sees 60% turnout

By BHASKAR HEGDE

Bangalore, May 10: Nearly 60 per cent of the voters exercised their franchise in the first phase of the elections on Saturday that an exit poll by a private television station said would net the BJP 31 seats of the 89 contested in the key Cauvery basin area.

Of these, buoyed by an 11 per cent swing in its favour, the BJP is expected to win 14 of the 28 seats in the capital Bangalore, giving the right-wing party a clear edge as campaigning begins in earnest for the crucial second and third phase of elections to the Karnataka Assembly.

Welcoming the early trends that showed the Congress taking a huge dent winning only a paltry 23 seats trailing behind, even the Janata Dal (Secular) which NDTV predicted would win 26 seats, said, "We will win more than 40 seats in the first phase and I believe more number of minorities have come to vote for our party."

Prominent leaders whose fate will be decided in the first phase include former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and his brother H.D. Revanna, former deputy chief minister Siddaramaiah and film actor and Congress MP Ambarish. The Cauvery basin is dominated by the powerful Vokkaliga community to which both former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and former chief minister S.M. Krishna belong.

Announcing the poll turnout details, chief electoral officer M.N. Vidyashankar on Saturday claimed credit for a peaceful election. "Of course, I have to thank the media and police for this," he said. Of the 11 districts that went to the polls on Saturday, the Bangalore rural district topped the list with 72.5 per cent voter turnout while the cosmopolitan Greater Bangalore City Corporation ended up at the bottom with 44 per cent.

[Meanwhile, the state EC has issued a notice to Union power minister Sushilkumar Shinde for "violating" the model code of conduct by announcing free power to farmers in a television interview earlier on Saturday. Mr Shinde has been asked to reply within 48 hours.]