Nanjangud
- The ruling Congress and the main opposition party in Karnataka, the BJP, are locked in a survival battle at two Assembly segments – Nanjangud and Gundlupet – for which the voting will be held on Apr. 9 (tomorrow). Over 4 lakh voters will exercise their franchise in both the constituencies from 7 am till 5 pm and counting of votes will be on Apr. 13. In Nanjangud, former Minister and Dalit strongman V. Sreenivasa Prasad is contesting against Kalale Keshavamurthy of the Congress and in Gundlupet, Geetha Mahadevaprasad of the Congress is pitted against C.S. Niranjan Kumar of the BJP. The Nanjangud by-election was necessitated as Sreenivasa Prasad resigned as an MLA after being ‘unceremoniously’ dropped by Chief Minister Siddharamaiah from his Cabinet. Prasad later joined BJP. The Gundlupet by-election was necessitated following the sudden demise of Congress MLA and former Minister H.S. Mahadevaprasad who had won the seat five times in a row. The Mysuru District Administration is fully prepared for the voting, mustering, de-mustering and counting. The entire process will be held amidst tight security and hawk-eye vigil. Addressing a press conference at JSS First Grade College (where the strong room to store Electronic Voting Machines has been set up) on the Deveerammanahalli Village Road in Nanjangud this morning, Deputy Commissioner D. Randeep who is also the District Election Officer said that polling will be held at 236 booths.
