West Graduates election voting urged in large numbers

Haveri The election to the Karnataka Legislative Council’s West Graduates’ Constituency will be held on October 23, with Deputy Commissioner Dr Vijaya Mahantesh urging graduates to vote in large numbers. The constituency covers Dharwad, Uttara Kannada, Haveri and Gadag districts and has 90,460 registered graduate voters. The Regional Commissioner will be the Returning Officer, while the Deputy Commissioners of the four districts will serve as Assistant Returning Officers. Nomination and counting procedures will be conducted in Dharwad. Nominations can be filed until October 6, scrutiny will be held on October 7 and candidates can withdraw their nominations until October 9. Polling will take place from 8 am to 4 pm on October 23, while counting is scheduled for October 27. The election process is expected to conclude by October 31. Haveri district has 22,160 graduate voters, including 13,951 men and 8,209 women. Officials have established 28 polling stations, including hobli-level booths to reduce travel. Officials are also considering additional polling stations in areas with a high concentration of voters. The Model Code of Conduct is in force, and district and taluk-level teams have been formed to monitor violations. Flying squads, media monitoring teams, surveillance teams and grievance monitoring teams are functioning. The administration has appealed to citizens to report attempts to influence voters through money, gifts or other inducements. The Deputy Commissioner said SVEEP activities would be conducted to encourage voter participation. Since the Legislative Council election uses paper ballots and preferential voting, training will be provided to polling personnel and voters through presentations and awareness programmes. BJP candidate S.V. Sankanur and Congress candidate Mohan Limbikai are among the prominent contestants in the West Graduates’ Constituency. Independent candidates are also expected to enter the contest before the nomination deadline. Authorities have urged voters to participate actively and follow election guidelines.