Madikeri  : The Madikeri City Municipal Council 23 wards elections were held peacefully on Tuesday.

The voters took part enthusiastically during the voting process, despite the fear of the Covid-19 pandemic. The future of the candidates will be known on April 30.

People waited in a queue as early as 7 am at the polling booth near the KSRTC bus stand.

A similar scene was found in several other polling booths as well. Even though the number of senior citizen voters was less, women and youth took part in large numbers.

People who were tested positive for Covid-19 were allowed to cast their franchise between 5 pm and 6 pm. The patients wore PPE kits and exercised their franchise.

A total of 108 candidates contested from 23 wards of the CMC. Both the BJP and Congress had fielded candidates in all the wards while JD(S) had fielded candidates in 22 wards.

SDPI fielded nine candidates, Aam Aadmi Party fielded four candidates and one candidate contested from Karnataka Rastra Sangha.

The candidates expressed their happiness over the good turnout of voters. Many candidates had speculated about a poor turnout due to the pandemic.

However, the spirited show of the voters is a good sign, said the candidates.

The seniors opined that there were no elected representatives at the City Municipal Council from the last two and a half years and the public was fed up with the administration of the officials.

The officials were not listening to the woes of the people in the CMC wards. Hence, the overwhelming attendance by the voters at the polling booths clearly indicated the fact that the people wanted elected representatives in the CMC administration, they added.

Maintenance of rules was given emphasis at the polling booths. The people wore masks and maintained social distancing.

Police vigil was tightened at every polling booth. Deputy Commissioner Charulata Somal paid a visit to the various polling booths to review the situation.