<p>Polling for the Rajarajeshwari Nagar and Sira assembly by-elections in Karnataka held under the shadow of coronavirus concluded peacefully without any major glitches on Tuesday.</p>.<p>Poor voter turnout marked the Rajarajeshwari Nagar bypoll with a polling percentage of only 39.15, whereas in Sira 77.34 per cent voting took place till 5 pm, according to the office of the Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar. The death of Sira JD(S) MLA B Satyanarayana in August and the resignation of RR Nagar Congress MLA Munirathna from the assembly last year led to the bypolls.</p>.<p>Till 9 am the voting did not pick up in both the constituencies as about 8 per cent voting took place.</p>.<p>It picked up in Sira at 11 am with 23.63 per cent but there was slight increase in RR Nagar with 14.44 per cent polling.</p>.<p>By 3 pm, the voting percentage was 62.1 in Sira and 32.41 in RR Nagar.</p>.<p>According to information received from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, polling started at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm in the two constituencies with a voting population of 6,78,012, including 3,26,114 women.</p>.<p>There are 1,008 polling stations, comprising 678 in RR Nagar and 330 in Sira, Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar said in a statement.</p>.<p>In view of the pandemic, the standard protocol of face masks was made mandatory for the voters as well as the polling staff.</p>.<p>Arrangements were made for thermal screening and hand sanitisers made available at the polling stations.</p>.<p>Security was beefed up around the polling stations.</p>.<p>The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (city corporation) had made separate arrangements for coronavirus- infected people to cast their votes in RR Nagar.</p>.<p>There are 31 candidates in the fray in the bypolls -- 15 in Sira and 16 in RR Nagar, including those from the Congress, BJP and the JD(S).</p>.<p>In RR Nagar, the BJP has fielded former Congress MLA Munirathna as its candidate whereas the Congress has given a ticket to H Kusuma, wife of former IAS officer late D K Ravi in the seat traditionally held by the party.</p>.<p>The JD(S) has fielded V Krishnamurthy.</p>.<p>In Sira, the BJP, Congress, and JD(S) have fielded radiologist Dr Rakesh Gowda, former minister T B Jayachandra and former (JD-S) MLA B Satyanarayana's wife Ammajamma respectively.</p>.<p>In the 224-seat assembly, BJP has 116 MLAs minus the speaker, Congress 67 and JD(S) 33, BSP one and there are two independents.</p>.<p>There is also a nominated member.</p>
<p>Polling for the Rajarajeshwari Nagar and Sira assembly by-elections in Karnataka held under the shadow of coronavirus concluded peacefully without any major glitches on Tuesday.</p>.<p>Poor voter turnout marked the Rajarajeshwari Nagar bypoll with a polling percentage of only 39.15, whereas in Sira 77.34 per cent voting took place till 5 pm, according to the office of the Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar. The death of Sira JD(S) MLA B Satyanarayana in August and the resignation of RR Nagar Congress MLA Munirathna from the assembly last year led to the bypolls.</p>.<p>Till 9 am the voting did not pick up in both the constituencies as about 8 per cent voting took place.</p>.<p>It picked up in Sira at 11 am with 23.63 per cent but there was slight increase in RR Nagar with 14.44 per cent polling.</p>.<p>By 3 pm, the voting percentage was 62.1 in Sira and 32.41 in RR Nagar.</p>.<p>According to information received from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, polling started at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm in the two constituencies with a voting population of 6,78,012, including 3,26,114 women.</p>.<p>There are 1,008 polling stations, comprising 678 in RR Nagar and 330 in Sira, Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar said in a statement.</p>.<p>In view of the pandemic, the standard protocol of face masks was made mandatory for the voters as well as the polling staff.</p>.<p>Arrangements were made for thermal screening and hand sanitisers made available at the polling stations.</p>.<p>Security was beefed up around the polling stations.</p>.<p>The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (city corporation) had made separate arrangements for coronavirus- infected people to cast their votes in RR Nagar.</p>.<p>There are 31 candidates in the fray in the bypolls -- 15 in Sira and 16 in RR Nagar, including those from the Congress, BJP and the JD(S).</p>.<p>In RR Nagar, the BJP has fielded former Congress MLA Munirathna as its candidate whereas the Congress has given a ticket to H Kusuma, wife of former IAS officer late D K Ravi in the seat traditionally held by the party.</p>.<p>The JD(S) has fielded V Krishnamurthy.</p>.<p>In Sira, the BJP, Congress, and JD(S) have fielded radiologist Dr Rakesh Gowda, former minister T B Jayachandra and former (JD-S) MLA B Satyanarayana's wife Ammajamma respectively.</p>.<p>In the 224-seat assembly, BJP has 116 MLAs minus the speaker, Congress 67 and JD(S) 33, BSP one and there are two independents.</p>.<p>There is also a nominated member.</p>