Legislative Council elections: Udupi records 74.17% polling in South West Graduates’ Constituency, 80.75% voting in South West Teachers’ Constituency

Udupi district reported 74.17% polling in South West Graduates’ Constituency and 80.75% polling in South West Teachers’ Constituency in the Legislative Council elections conducted on Monday.

Udupi district reported 74.17% polling in South West Graduates’ Constituency and 80.75% polling in South West Teachers’ Constituency in the Legislative Council elections conducted on Monday.

Of 17,033 voters in Graduates’ Constituency in the district, 12,633 voters exercised their franchise. In all, 6,494 (70.77%) voters of 9,176 female voters and 6,139 (78.13%) voters of 7,857 male voters voted in the same constituency.

According to K. Vidyakumari, Deputy Commissioner of Udupi and the Assistant Election Officer, 3,284 voters of 4,067 total voters voted in the Teachers’ Constituency in the district. As many as 1,808 voters of 2,350 women voters and 1,476 voters of 1,717 male voters voted in the Teachers’ Constituency.

Reports said that the BJP and the Congress workers exchanged words at the Kaup polling station for sometime over trying to attract voters to vote for their respective candidates. Police who intervened dispersed workers of both the parties.

Former BJP MLA from Udupi K. Raghupathi Bhat who contested as rebel in South West Graduates’ Constituency against the party’s official candidate Dhananjaya Sarji, a doctor from Shivamogga, cast his vote at Government Pre University College in Manipal.

Speaking to presspersons later, he exuded the confidence of winning the election.

Mr. Bhat alleged that the BJP has distributed ₹2,000 each to voters in Shivamogga, Chikkamgaluru and Kodagu districts. “It was informed to me by people who called up from those districts,” he said and added, “Money has been distributed to voters in the South West Graduates’ Constituency to lure them for the first time. There was no such system of distributing covers to voters in the constituency earlier by the BJP.”