75.62% polls in West Graduates constituency, 86.97% in North East Teachers constituency
Former Council Speaker Basavaraj Horatti shows his ink-marked finger in Hubballi on Friday after casting his vote during the Legislative Council elections. | Photo credit: PTI
The polls for the Karnataka West Graduates and North-East Teachers Legislative Council constituencies ended peacefully in 11 districts under the two segments on Friday.
While the West Graduates constituency polled 75.62%, the North East Teachers constituency polled 86.97%.
According to Returning Officer and Belagavi Regional Commissioner KM Janaki, out of 97,400 registered voters, 73,658 exercised their right to vote. There were 45,110 men and 28,548 women. Elections were held in 137 polling stations in Dharwad, Haveri, Gadag and Uttara Kannada districts.
Haveri recorded the highest voter turnout of 78.71%, followed by Gadag with 77.66%, Uttara Kannada with 76.52% and Dharwad with 71.80%.
Of the 24,648 registered voters in Haveri, 19,401 cast their votes. In Gadag, 16,770 voters cast their votes out of a total of 21,594 registered voters, while 12,273 out of 16,039 voters in Uttara Kannada cast their votes.
In Dharwad district, 25,214 out of 35,119 registered voters exercised their franchise.
Polling started at 8:00 AM and continued till 4:00 PM. The total turnout in all four districts was 27.46% at noon and 49.45% at 2pm before reaching the final figure.
Ms. Janaki said voters participated actively and polling was peaceful in the entire constituency. She attributed the voter turnout to measures to increase voter awareness and candidate cooperation.
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi and former Legislative Council Speaker Basavaraj Horatti were among those who cast their votes.
A total of 14 candidates are in the fray, including MLC SV Sankanur and former MLC Mohan Limbikai.
The counting will begin at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad on October 27.
Teachers waiting to cast their votes at North East Teachers’ Constituency at MPHS School in Super Market area of Kalaburagi on Friday. | Photo credit: ARUN KULKARNI
86.97% of surveys
Voting started slowly in the North-East teaching precinct, but picked up at midday and saw a turnout of 86.97% at the end of the process at 4pm.
Out of 34,784 voters, 30,250 exercised their franchise in 144 polling stations set up in Kalaburagi, Bidar, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal, Ballari and Vijayanagar districts.
As many as 18,008 male voters out of 20,041 and 12,242 women out of 14,743 cast their votes.
At the end of voting, all precincts improved their vote percentage. According to the final data provided by the regional commissioner’s office, Koppal scored 92.59% and remained on top, followed by Vijayanagar 91.07%, Yadgir 90.79%, Ballari 86.50%, Bidar 86.47%, Raichur 86.04% while Kalaburagi finished last.
There are 13 candidates in the fray, including sitting MLC Shashila G. Namoshi of the BJP, Sharanappa Mattur of the Congress, Saibanna Jamadar of the Aam Aadmi Party, SL Patil of the Janata Dal (United) and independent candidates Kaviraj Motakpalli, Mehboob Vantelli, Tulas, Sharanappa Rajabasa, Tulasappa, Rajahidharu, Dasbasar Shivashankar and Suresh.
The counting will begin at Gulbarga University’s Department of Mathematics on October 27.
Published – 23 Oct 2026 22:02 IST