15 lakh freshers among 4.62 cr voters in Karnataka

B D Narayankar Reports:

        Bangalore, April 1 (PTI) About 4.62 crore people,
including 15 lakh fresh voters, are eligible to excercise
their franchise in the April 17 Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka.
        A total of 435 candidates are in the fray which would
witness a three-horse race, the principal fight being between
ruling Congress and BJP.
        "As many as 4,62,11,844 voters would excercise their
franchise during the elections in the state," State Chief
Electoral Officer, Anilkumar Jha told reporters here.
        Jha said 15,85,224 fresh voters have been included in the
voters' list, taking the total number to 4.62 crore.
        Giving gender-wise breakup of the electorate, Jha said it
comprised as many as 2,35,55,074 male voters and 2,26,12,084
women voters.
        "In the others category, as many as 3,957 voters plus
40,729 service voters would also be excercising their voting
rights," he added.
        In Bangalore North constituency as many as 26 candidates
are in the fray, being the highest, whereas Gulbarga, has the
least with eight candidates contesting, Jha said.
        On Election Observers, Jha said there are 28 and 39
general and expenditure observers, who would supervise polls.
"Three police observers in the rank of DIG and IGP will also
render services," he added.
        BJP and Congress have fielded their candidates in all the
28 parliamentary constituencies in the state, he said.
        Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has also fielded candidates for
all the 28 Lok sabha seats in the state, while JDS has
candidates in 25 constituencies, Jha said.
        Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda-led JDS had to face
embarassing moment on the last day for withdrawl on March 29,
as its candidate Shivanand Nayak pulled out race citing
financial constraints.
        Among the registered, but unrecognised political parties,
the Aam Aadmi Party is fielding its candidates for all 28
seats and there were 195 Independents, who have jumped into
the fray, Jha said.
        Bangalore North and Chikmagalur-Udupi were the biggest and
smallest constituencies in terms of voters population in the
state, Jha said. "There are 23,99,994 voters in North
Bangalore and 13,86,515 voters in Chikamagalur-Udupi
constituency," he added.
        Replying to a query, Jha said no Tibetans in Karnataka
would be excercising their franchise as none of them had
registered their name with the Election Commission.
        Talking about seizures made today, Jha said Rs 3.08 crore
in cash in total was seized across the state. He said Rs 20
lakh in cash was seized from Kanakumbi in Khanapur taluk and
Rs two lakh from Kodagu district.
        Another Rs 1.5 lakh and Rs 1.3 lakh in cash were seized
from Chikkaballapur and Dharwad districts, Jha said.
        Among items seized, he said 8,000 kgs of jaggery and 2,000
sarees were seized from Dharwad and Raibag talukas. Another
2,022 sarees was also seized in Chikkaballapur.