Voting ends in K'taka; 65.69% polling till 5 p.m.

Bengaluru, May 10 (IANS) The voting in Karnataka for the 224 Assembly seats on Wednesday which began at 7 a.m. ended at 6 p.m. with the state recording a voter turnout of 65.69 per cent till 5 p.m., an official said.

Barring some incidents, the polling was overall peaceful. Those standing in queues at the polling booths till 6 p.m. were allowed to cast votes.

The final polling percentage will be known later on Wednesday evening as the Election Commission is expected to receive reports from all constituencies.

Karnataka had crossed 50 per cent turnout in the post-lunch period. By 3 p.m., 52.18 per cent of voters turned out to exercise their voting rights.

The polling, which began on a dull note, picked up pace as the day progressed and the turnout crossed 75 per cent in high voltage constituencies across the state.

Going by the trend, analysts opine that the final turnout will cross 75 per cent. This would also indicate a close fight between political parties.

The voter turnout in the high voltage Varuna seat reached 77.11 per cent by 5 p.m.

It is one among the keenly observed seats as Opposition leader Siddaramaiah and Minister for Housing V. Somanna are contesting from there.

The trend of huge voter turnout in coastal and hilly regions continued.

The turnout of voters reached 70.09 per cent in the Virajpet seat. Madikeri seat registered 70.81 per cent polling.

Dakshina Kannada district, which witnessed revenge killings and communal incidents, also saw a large number of voters turning out to booths.

Sullia recorded 70.01 per cent polling, Puttur 74.96 per cent, Bantwal 74.71 per cent and Mangalore 70.2 per cent polling.

Mangalore City South recorded 59.33 per cent turnout, Mangalore City North 67.2 per cent, Moodabidri 70.47 per cent, and Belthangady 73.64 per cent turnout.

Udupi district's assembly segments Karkal saw 75.53 per cent polling, Kapu 75.18 per cent, Udupi 71.98 per cent, Kundapura 75.08 per cent and Byndoor 71.83 per cent polling.

The Channapatna seat, where former CM H.D. Kumaraswamy and former BJP minister C.P. Yogeshwar are contesting, recorded 71.21 per cent.

Kanakapura constituency, from where Karnataka Congress President D.K. Shivakumar is contesting, saw 80.5 per cent turnout.

Chamarajpet seat in Bengaluru, which has a large number of Muslim voters, recorded a mere 49.42 per cent polling.

Shikaripura seat, from where B.Y. Vijayendra, former CM B.S. Yediyurappa's son is contesting, recorded a 77.52 per cent polling.

Hubli-Dharwad Central, where former CM Jagadish Shettar is contesting on a Congress ticket, has witnessed 58.67 per cent of voter turnout.

The Athani seat from where former deputy chief minister Laxman Savadi is contesting has seen 71.28 per cent polling.