Karnataka council poll sees 99 percent polling

Bengaluru: A record 99 percent voting was registered on Sunday in all 25 constituencies of the Karnataka legislative council poll across the state.

"The eight-hour polling from 10 am was peaceful and 99 percent of the total 107,123 voters cast their ballot in the 25 seats of the legislative council across the state," an Election Commission official told reporters here.

Counting is on December 30.

Members of urban and local bodies and lawmakers from the 225-state legislative assembly are part of the electoral college for the council poll.

In all, 125 candidates, including eight women are in the fray.

The ruling Congress has fielded candidates in 21 seats, while opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 20 seats and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) in 18 seats.

Of the 75-member council, Congress has 28 seats, while BJP 30, JD-S 12, independents four and one vacant.

Of the total, 25 members are elected by assembly lawmakers, 25 from local bodies, 11 are nominated by the state governor and seven from graduates and teachers' constituencies.

In the absence of party whip, three JD-S lawmakers – Zameer Ahmed Khan, T.A. Saravana and Akanda Srinivas – claimed that they had voted in favour of Congress nominee M. Narayana Murthy in the city. (Inputs from IANS), (image courtesy:exposure.imgix.net)