Moodubelle: Moderate polling by noon in the Zilla and Taluk Panchayat Elections

By Eugene Moodubelle
Pictures by Anil Alva
Bellevision Media Network

Moodubelle, 31 December 2010:  In the elections that are being held on Friday, 31st December 2010 for twin local bodies-Zilla and Taluk Panchayat, there was moderate polling in the Belle Grama Panchyat jurisdiction by 12 noon. While two booths in the Church Aided Higher Primary School, Moodubelle recorded 45 per cent polling, at Kattingeri it was reported to be  40 per cent and at Edmeru just 30 percent whereas in Padubelle 40 per cent and in Pamboor 38 per cent. It is expected that by evening the polling will pick up and according to a conservative estimate the overall percentage may reach up to 70 to 75 per cent.

Three candidates-Mrs. Ida Gibba  D’Souza (Congress), Mrs. Jacintha Mabel D’Souza (JD-S) and Mrs. Reshma Uday Shetty (BJP) are trying their luck in the Zilla Panchayat elections. The seat has been reserved for women in the Zilla Panchayat.  Devdas Hebbar (BJP) and Henry Alva (Congress) are contesting for the Taluk Panchayat seat from Belle Grama Panchayat jurisdiction.

The second phase of  Zilla and Taluk Panchayat elections covering seventeen districts of Karnataka is in progress on Friday, 31st December 2010.  These  districts are: Chickmagalur, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Hasan, Kodagu, Mandya, Mysore, Chamarajanagara, Belgaum, Bijapur, Bagalkote, Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, Uttara Kannada, Davanagere and Koppal.  Nearly  1.54 crore voters will decide the fate of 9,595 candidates for 595 Zilla Panchayat  and 2,163 Taluk Panchayat seats . Polling will be held between 7 am and 5 pm. A total of 18,203 polling stations have been set up. The first phase of the election in 12 districts was held on 26th December 2010 and in the third phase, Gulbarga district will vote on 1st January 2011 and results will be declared on 4th January 2011. In most of the seats there is a three-way battle between the ruling BJP, the Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular.

In the district of Udupi  voting is being conducted for 25 Zilla Panchayat  and 95 Taluk Panchayat  constituencies. Udupi Taluk Panchayat  has 41 seats, Kundapur-35 and Karkala-19 seats. Following the mandatory 50 per cent reservation for women in total number of seats, 13 seats  are being reserved for women in Zilla Panchayat polls. In Taluk Panchayat  polls, as many as 49 seats are reserved for women across the district. In Udupi, as many as 21 women candidates, 10 in Karkala and 18 in Kundapur are contesting the polls. There are as many as 721 polling stations in the district with 298 in Udupi, 145 in Karkala and 278 in Kundapur. A total of 1,588 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) are being used for these elections.