Bengaluru : Karnataka recorded 63.90 per cent voter turnout by 5 p.m. in its first phase of polling. The state witnessed largely peaceful polling across constituencies, barring a few incidents. The Election Commission booked cases against a few leaders in the state.

The State capital generally registers a low voter turnout; this election season recorded an average turnout of 52.4 per cent. The majority of polling constituencies saw a turnout in the range of 65-74 per cent. Interestingly, Banjarumale, an interior region in Belthangady taluk of Dakshina Kannada district, recorded 100 per cent turnout.

While polling under scorching heat remained largely undisturbed, MM Hills, a remote region in Hanur taluk, Chamarajanagar district, witnessed disruption. Enraged by the taluk administration’s attempts to persuade the protesting villagers to back down from their call for a boycott of the polls, the villagers turned to stone-throwing and broke into the polling booth, damaging polling materials.

The Election Commission booked a case against Tejasvi Surya, BJP MP from Bengaluru South, for “soliciting votes on the ground of religion,” through the video he posted on X. It also booked an FIR against BJP leader CT Ravi for his post on his X handle for violation – “for promoting hatred and enmity between different classes of citizens.”

A case against the BJP candidate for Chikkaballapura was also registered for alleged bribery and undue influence on the electorate. Cash amounting to Rs.4.8 crore was also seized. As polls were underway, JD (S) leader HD Kumaraswamy accused the ruling Congress party of distributing gift coupons with QR codes to voters. The coupons he displayed were in the names of Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, his brother and Bengaluru Rural candidate, DK Suresh, and other Congress leaders.

In the first phase, 14 of 28 constituencies concluded polling on April 26. The current ruling party, Congress, contested all 14 seats, whereas the BJP fielded 11 candidates and its alliance party JD(S) fielded three in Hassan, Kolar and Mandya.