Heavy police presence in the Banashankari Temple Ward (180) proved dampener for any trouble mongers, as no major disturbances were reported on Sunday, as the ward took to the polls for the ward by-elections.Though the elections, being contested for the post of ward councillor, carried on with ease, many locals alleged that the excessive number of police personnel, deterred many voters from coming out and casting their vote. This claim, however, was dismissed by Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Sonia Narang, who justified the large deployment and said that it was ‘security requirement’ and not for any other purpose as alleged.Thirteen of the 34 polling stations were declared ‘hypersensitive’ while the remaining were declared as ‘sensitive’ by the police. Returning Officer (RO) for the by-elections, Avinash Babu said that there was an overall voting of 53 per cent, in all booths. Though there was a good turnout during the early hours of voting, the booths, especially in Yarabnagar, saw only scanty voter turn out for the rest of the day, mostly ferried in auto rickshaws and later dropped back. There were announcements made from the local mosque, urging people to come out and vote as well.AllegationsBut the elections, like any other, did have its moments of anxiety with allegations and minor altercations between political parties.The first one when a speeding vehicle nearly hit a party worker of one of the political parties. Though the police and the partys had varying versions on who was driving, the incident did trigger a heated argument between all three parties, which was later resolved due to police interference.The second was when Congress candidate, Ansar Pasha, was allegedly ‘missing’ according to many party workers. But Pasha, later told the media that he was very much present and overlooking voting in all the booths.The third was when Congress leader Gurappa Naidu made allegations about Home Minister R Ashok, whom under the Padmanabha Nagar constituency falls, and how he was misusing the police to ensure only people voting for the BJP were allowed a free access into the booths. His attempts to inflate the situation, was not seen as a healthy sign by the police due to the sensitive nature of the ward, and hence asked him to leave from Yarabnagar.He added that the brothers of the murdered corporator Diwan Ali, were indirectly supporting the BJP to divide the votes. Both Mohammed Akbar and Mohammed Nayaz, who contested as a JD(S) and independent candidate, failed to cash in on sympathy votes, as the elections turned into a fight between the Congress candidate Ansar Pasha and BJP heavyweight AH Basavaraj.Voter list goof upsCongress leader Syed Ghouse claimed that over 4,000 names were ‘deliberately’ taken out of the list to ensure favourable voting for the BJP. There were many other cases of photos and genders being a mismatch, and hence, voters sent back from the gates itself.
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