Voting began on Saturday on a brisk note across Karnataka to elect its 15th Legislative Assembly for a five-year term.
"Peaceful polling is being held in 222 of the 224 constituencies, including 36 segments reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SC), 15 for Scheduled Tribes (ST) under tight security," an official told IANS here.
Denizens of Bengaluru were seen lined up outside polling booths from 6.30 a.m. to beat the rush in casting their ballots as voting began at 7 a.m.
Polling in Bengaluru's Raja Rajeshwari (RR) Nagar segment has been postponed to May 28 following the voter ID cards case and countermanded in the city's Jayanagar seat following the death of BJP contestant B.N. Vijaya Kumar on May 4.
In all, voting is being conducted across 26 of the 28 constituencies in the city.
During the initial hour of voting, there were reports of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) malfunctioning in some booths; power crisis in a polling station in Rajajinagar seat; voters names missing at few booths and women clad in burqa made to reveal their faces at a Belagavi polling booth -- that led to a few hiccups.
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Chief Ministerial face B.S. Yeddyurappa was among the first to cast his vote in Shikaripura segment in Shivamogga district of Malnad region.
The state has over 5.06-crore electorate, including 2.56-crore men, 2.5-crore women and over 5,000 who identify themselves as the third gender.
A total of 15.42 lakh voters, aged 18-19, have registered to cast their ballot for the first time.
Voting is being held in 58,008 polling stations of 30 districts across the state, with 600 of them as pink booths, manned by all-women personnel, and 28 ethnic booths.
Over 1.5 lakh personnel have been stationed across the state for the election, with paramilitary forces from 585 state and central companies at 20,826 polling booths, including 12,001 critical booths.
Voting will continue till 6 p.m. and votes will be counted on May 15.
Northeast records over 50 pc voting till 3 pm despite inclement weather
In Arunachal - which is going for simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections - the Arunachal East parliamentary seat recorded a voter turnout of 56.78 per cent and the Arunachal West Lok Sabha seat witnessed 54.53 per cent voter turnout till 3 PM.
Tripura records 68.11% voter turnout till 3 PM
The electoral process for the initial phase in the West Parliamentary Constituency of Tripura commenced at 7 AM, bolstered by stringent security measures. By 3 PM, the voter turnout stood at 68.11%.
Pak-born Bangladeshi national held in Tripura with Indian documents
A 25-year-old man was arrested in Tripura while attempting to cross into Bangladesh illegally, officials said here on Friday, adding that he claimed to be a Pakistani-born Bangladeshi national who had travelled across India.
Air India suspends flights to Tel Aviv till April 30 over Iran-Israel conflict
Air India on Friday extended the suspension of its flight services to Israel's capital Tel Aviv till April 30, in the wake of prevailing conflict and tension between Israel and Iran.
Love jihad spreading, take care of your girls: K’taka Cong Corporator and father of murder victim
Niranjan Hiremath, the Congress Corporator and father of MCA student Neha Hiremath who was killed on Thursday, stated on Friday that love jihad was spreading rapidly.
Congress, CPI-M not part of INDIA bloc in Bengal: Mamata Banerjee
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Assam records 45.12 pc polling, Meghalaya's voter turnout 50.23 pc till 1 PM
An estimated 45.12 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 1 p.m. on Friday in the five Lok Sabha seats in Assam in the first of the seven-phased Lok Sabha elections, officials said.
Sushanta Chowdhury rules out oppositions’ allegation of unfair poll; says I.N.D.I.A bloc is sinking ship
Slamming the I.N.D.I.A bloc, Chowdhury on Friday said, “Most of the leaders of the I.N.D.I.A bloc are presently in jail and hence the sinking ship of the bloc has no future. People rejected the I.N.D.I.A bloc and will surely vote for Narendra Modi for more development to the nation.”