Mysuru: The much awaited by-election for Nanjangud and Gundlupet Assembly constituencies will be held on Sunday. The high campaign for both constituencies ended on Friday and most of the political leaders left the place as the election code of conduct is in force. It is a litmus test for the ruling Congress, while the BJP is hoping to bank on anti-incumbency factor.
The by-poll for Nanjangud, a reserve constituency in Mysuru district, was necessitated following the resignation of former Congress leader and revenue minister V Srinivasa Prasad who left the party following rift with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for dropping him from the Cabinet.
There are 1, 91,594 voters in Nanjangud and 236 polling stations across the taluk. The constituency is dominated by Dalit and Lingayat population. On the other hand, the Congress has fielded Kalale Keshavamurthy, who lost to Prasad in the 2013 Assembly elections as a Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) nominee by a margin of nearly 9000 votes.
Congress candidate Kalale Keshavamurthy is having good support in Nanjangud town while Prasad is having a good support in the rural. It will be a cliffhanger between the two. For Nanjangud by-election including those of Congress and BJP, nine candidates will be contesting the election. JD (S) decided not to contest both the by-elections as the next Assembly polls are scheduled to be held next year.
Elaborate security arrangements have been made at all the polling booths marking some as sensitive and hypersensitive booths. A total of 100 micro observers have been deployed to oversee the election process.
Around 10 platoons of KSRP, 18 District Armed Reserve (DAR), apart from 6 units of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF), will be deployed for election day and two rapid intervention vehicles are pressed for security purpose. For Gundlupet by-election, eleven candidates including those of Congress and BJP will be contesting the election.
The by-poll for Gundlupet in Chamarajanagar district is being held due to the sudden death of Congress leader and Cooperation Minister H S Mahadevaprasad in January. The ruling party has fielded his widow Geetha Mahadevaprasad against the BJP candidate C S Niranjan Kumar, who was defeated last time by Mahadevaprasad. Gundlupet has 1, 95,293 electorate and 250 polling booths and the region is dominated by Lingayats. Security arrangements are also in place in Gundlupet, where, apart from the DAR platoons, there will be 55 assistant sub-inspectors, 128 head constables, 250 police constables, 194 home guards and 365 CAPF personnel to ensure free and fair polling across the constituency.
For both the by- elections, thinking the outcome may have an impact on the forthcoming Assembly elections, leaders from both parties Congress and BJP went all out in their efforts to attract the voters. From both the parties almost all senior and prominent leaders took part in the election campaign. Polling for both the constituency will be held on Sunday and the counting will be held on April 13.
Siddaramaiah spends time in Ramya Hotel
In the morning, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah along with his few ministers had breakfast at Ramya hotel in Lakshmipuram.
