Karnataka polls 70% votes; Bhatkal too stick with the average percentage of 70%

Bhatkal 12 May 2018: (Bhatkallys News Bureau) The provisional voting percentage in the Karnataka assembly elections is at 70%, the Election Commission said on Saturday evening, according to news agency ANI. However, in the previous assembly elections the voting percentage remained 71.45% whereas the average percentage of previous three elections in the state remains 67.1%. “Except a few polling stations, where people are still standing in the line and voting, polling has been completed in almost all polling stations,” ANI quoted an Election Commission official as saying. The polling for the elections bagan on 7.00 am on Saturday at 58,546 polling stations for 222 seats across the state while elections at two constituencies Jayanagar and Rajarajeshwari Nagar, both in Bengaluru, have been postponed. In Jayanagar, polling has been deferred due to the death of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate, B N Vijay Kumar, on May 4. The road to the polling day of the election was trailed by the national leaders of BJP and Congress with some high stakes campaigning across the state. In Bhatkal's polling booths, people queued up to cast their votes and polled around 70% of votes within the deadline with no reported delays or stalling of the voting. Both Congress and BJP candidates Mankal Vaidya and Sunil Naik respectively caste their votes in the early hours of the day and were later seen monitoring booth activities at several booths. Sunil Naik, while speaking to Bhatkallys.com at a polling booth affirmed that he will win the elections comfortably with a margin of over 25000 votes against Mankal Vaidya, however the Congress supporters were also seen to confident of winning the elections comfortably. Only the time will prove one of them true on May 15th. The Karnataka Assembly elections is seen to be a significant advantage to the road of 2019 general elections as the winner will have an edge over the other going into 2019. BJP with BS Yeddiyurappa as its chief ministerial candidate is trying to stage a comeback into the south after forming the governement for the first time in 2008, while Congress led by Rahul Gandhi will want to form the government once again with Siddaramaiah as the CM of the state to make a strong pitch for itself for 2019 general elections. Interestingly no incumbent government has been re-elected in the state since 1985. CLICK HERE for more pictures from the polling day in Bhatkal SEE ALSO: Photos: Voting begins in Bhatkal for Karnataka Assembly Election (Bhatkallys News Bureau/ Ismail Zaorez)