Channapatna high on bypoll spirit, liquor seizures soar in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: The high stakes bypoll in Channapatna got a new flavour as massive quantities of liquor are flowing in the constituency, with the booze seized there being roughly equal to what was found by authorities in roughly 77 segments together during the Assembly polls last year.

Channapatna, Shiggaon and Sandur constituencies go to bypolls on Wednesday.

According to the Election Commission, 2.95 lakh litres of liquor worth Rs 29.08 crore were seized in 27 days (October 16- November 11) in Channapatna where Congress' C P Yogeshwar is facing off with Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil Kumaraswamy who is the NDA candidate. 

During the 2023 Assembly polls, 22.27 lakh litres of liquor worth Rs 83.66 crore was seized across the state (Rs 37.34 lakh per constituency on average).

The huge quantity of liquor seized indicates the proportion of resources being pooled in and the scale of the fight in the constituency, which has transformed into a prestige battle between Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and Kumaraswamy.

Sources in the Election Commission noted that the huge hauls were due to the seizure of liquor at a major vineyard in Channapatna limits.

In comparison, the liquor seizures in Shiggaon and Sandur – the other two constituencies going to bypolls – are low. 

While liquor worth Rs 1.2 lakh was seized in Shiggaon, the corresponding figure was 9.5 lakh in Sandur. The total monetary value of the liquor, cash and freebies seized in the three constituencies was Rs 33.33 crore. 

Polling in Channapatna, Shiggaon and Sandur (ST reserved) constituencies will be held from 7 am to 6 pm on Wednesday. A total of 764 votes have already been cast by postal ballot in the three constituencies.