Campaign ends for Monday's election to Bengaluru seat

BENGALURU: Campaign for the Monday election to the Jayanagar Assembly segment in Bengaluru ended on Saturday, with candidates wooing the electorate for their valuable vote at the hustings. The vote count will be on June 13.

Polling in the prestigious seat was countermanded due to the death of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) contestant B.N. Vijaya Kumar on May 4.

The BJP nominated Kumar's younger brother B.N. Prahlad as its candidate, reports IANS.

Withdrawal of Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) contestant Kalegowda from the fray on June 5 in support of the Congress nominee Sowmya Reddy has made the electoral battle a straight contest between the two national parties.

Sowmya is the daughter of former state Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy.

The Congress, which won from the RR Nagar Assembly segment on May 31, hopes to wrest the Jayanagar seat from the BJP, aiming to take its tally to 79.

Thought the coalition partner won 78 seats in the May 12 election, death of its re-elected legislator Siddu Bhimappa Nyamgoud from Jamakhandi on May 28 has kept its strength at the same number even after the RR Nagar win.

In all, 19 candidates, including nine Independents, are in the fray. The other woman candidate in the contest in Nayeema Khanum of the Praja Raita Raajya Paksha.

Polling will be held from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. across 216 polling booths. There are a total of 312,252 registered voters in the Assembly segment.