R.R. Nagar bypolls: Stark divide in polling between middle-class and poor pockets
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The total voter turnout in R.R. Nagar Assembly constituency on Tuesday was low, at 45.24%. However, there was a transparent divide between the turnout in middle-class residential pockets and lower-income areas, with the latter being considerably greater. This has set off calculations amongst political events on who’s more likely to have benefited.
The lack of enthusiasm amongst middle-class voters was compounded by COVID-19 fears and the truth that Tuesday was a workday. Several polling cubicles in the middle-class pockets of Nagarabhavi, R.R. Nagar, and Jnanabharati recorded lower than 30% turnout by the top of the day. While the turnout in lower-income pockets reminiscent of Hegganahalli and Laggere remained decrease than that in the overall elections, it was considerably greater than the turnout in their posh residential counterparts. By afternoon, a lot of the polling cubicles in Laggere had lengthy strains of girls, sustaining social distance and ready to solid their votes.
‘New normal’ voting
Voters needed to compulsorily put on masks, have been thermally screened, and given gloves earlier than voting. Those who turned up with out masks have been fined by the police, however given masks and allowed to vote. A senior polling official stated there have been only a few such instances. In some polling cubicles, the thermal scanners malfunctioned, elevating issues among the many polling brokers. A polling officer stated, “I will know if there were any problems only a week later.”
Given that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress ran a pitched marketing campaign, the police had anticipated bother and have been current in giant numbers. “The polling went off peacefully, without any untoward incident,” stated City Police Commissioner Kamal Pant.
There have been just a few verbal duels between staff of various events, however none went out of hand. At a polling sales space in Nagarabhavi, Congress staff took objection to a safety particular person carrying a saffron masks and BJP brokers sitting close to the sales space carrying saffron T-shirts. While the police received the safety particular person to interchange the masks, the BJP staff stood their floor, on condition that their T-shirts didn’t show the occasion flag or image.
In two situations, Janata Dal (Secular) and Congress staff alleged that the BJP was distributing cash to voters and lodged complaints. While JD(S) candidate Krishnamurthy alleged that BJP staff have been distributing cash close to a polling sales space in Sumanahalli, Congress staff alleged that voters in Yeshwantpur ward have been queueing up on the residence of former councillor G.K. Venkatesh to obtain a “gift”. The BJP denied each allegations.
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