Shivamogga: The by-polls for the Shivamogga Lok Sabha seat began today at 7 AM and will continue till 6 PM. However, according to officials, as of 1 PM, 36.02 percent of the electorate have exercised their rights.
A total of 16, 45, 511 voters are supposed to vote from the Shivamogga Lok Sabha Constituency. Voting is being held in Byndoor Assembly Constituency (under Shivamogga Lok Sabha), Shivamogga Assembly Constituency, Bhadravati, Shivamogga City, Tirthahalli, Sorab and Sagar.
Unfortunately, the voter turnout has been low. Many villagers have boycotted the polling as their representatives have neglected to provide them with basic necessities. Tahsildar Sathyanarayana, along with other senior officers, rushed to the spot to convince the locals to cast their vote. In the Holebelagalu village alone, there are more than 500 electorates and in the Doddamatti village, there are more than 400 electorates, who have boycotted the by-elections.
Many prominent politicians and others were seen arriving at the polling stations including BS Yeddyurappa, BJP Shivamogga LS by-poll candidate BY Raghavendra, DH Shakarmurty and his son Arun, MLC Prasanna Kumar, MLC Ayanuru Manjunath, Araga Jnanendra MLA Thirthalli, Ashok Nayak MLA Shivamogga Rural, Sagara MLA Harataalu Halappa, Srikanth JDS chief secretary, Former Shivamogga MLA KB Prasanna Kumar, MLA KS Eshwarappa, MLC Rudregauda BJP, Bhanu Prakash BJP and JD(S) Shivamogga LS by-poll candidate Madhu Bangarappa.
