Voting for elections in the Jayanagar Assembly seat in Karnataka’s capital city Bengaluru began at 7 am on Monday. Till 6 pm, around 55% voter turnout was recorded, reported ANI.

Polling for Jayanagar constituency was deferred after sitting MLA BN Vijaykumar died in Bengaluru a few days before the May 12 Assembly polls. The 59-year-old was the Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate and had already represented the constituency twice.

More than 2 lakh voters are eligible to cast their votes at the 216 polling booths set up in seven wards in the constituency, Deccan Chronicle reported. Besides the city police, the paramilitary forces will also guard some polling booths to prevent any untoward incidents, officials said.

The BJP has fielded BN Vijaykumar’s brother BN Prahlad, while the Congress’ candidate is Sowmya Reddy, the daughter of former minister Ramalinga Reddy. The Janata Dal (Secular) withdrew its candidate last week and announced that it would support Reddy.

Assembly elections

The Assembly elections in the state threw up a hung verdict. The Congress and the JD(S), along with the Bahujan Samaj Party and two independents, have the support of 118 MLAs, while the BJP has the support of 104 legislators. Elections in two seats – Jayanagar and Rajarajeshwari Nagar – were deferred. The Congress won the Rajarajeshwari Nagar seat on May 30.

BJP’s BS Yeddyurappa was initially sworn in as the chief minister but resigned two days later as his party did not have the numbers to prove its majority. The Congress and the JD(S) forged a post-poll alliance to form the government, and JD(S) Karnataka chief HD Kumaraswamy took oath as chief minister on May 23.