Stage set for the battle of ballots in Mysuru

Mysuru, Mandya, and Chamarajanagar gear up for Lok Sabha elections with elaborate preparations and polling arrangements in place.

The stage is set for the battle of ballots as Mysuru, Mandya and Chamarajanagar Lok Sabha constituencies will go to polls on Friday. All arrangements are in place for the Festival of Democracy that begins at 7 a.m. and goes on till 6 p.m.

The district administration in the three districts have taken elaborate steps for conducting the elections in a free and fair manner even as the last-minute preparations before the polling staff headed to their respective polling stations after the mustering process – handing over EVMs, VVPATs and other accessories - were monitored by the deputy commissioners of the respective districts.

Amidst the searing heat, voters will have to cast their ballots in 2,202 polling booths established across eight assembly constituencies in Mysuru and Kodagu districts that are part of the Mysuru Lok Sabha constituency.

Voters will exercise their franchise at 2,202 polling booths in Chamundeshwari, Krishnaraja, Chamaraja, Narasimharaja, Hunsur, and Periyapatna constituencies (all in Mysuru) and Madikeri and Virajpet (in Kodagu). A total of 20,92,222 voters are eligible to cast their ballot and they include 10,26,324 male, 10,65,714 female, and 184 others.

In total, 9,809 election staff, including 2,434 presiding officers (PROs), 2,482 APROs, and 4,893 polling officers have been appointed to conduct the polls. All these officers went to their respective booths after the mustering process, carrying EVMs, and polling materials in KSRTC buses arranged by the district administration.

Almost all the staff left the mustering centers by afternoon along with the police personnel who shall be guarding the booths.

Around 473 KSRTC buses, 33 MUVs and 79 mini buses had been deployed in Mysuru to ferry the polling staff to their booths.