Voting begins at 7 am and concludes at 6 pm. The prevailing heatwave conditions and the lack of pre-monsoon rains have added to the challenges. Political parties have been requesting voters to turn up at the polling booths early to avoid the afternoon heat.
Heatwave conditions prevailing in most of north Karnataka have brought new challenges for good voter turnout in the constituencies where Lok Sabha elections are scheduled on Tuesday.
Of the 14 constituencies in the state going to polls on Tuesday, 10 had seen a drop in turnout in the 2019 general elections, compared to the 2014 numbers.
As per data from the election commission, the average turnout in the 14 constituencies went up by about 2 per cent to 68.65 per cent. A major part of this boost came from Bidar (63 per cent), Koppal (68.56 per cent) and Bellary (69.76 per cent), a significant improvement compared with the 51 per cent, 53 per cent and 53.3 per cent in 2014. Haveri, too, saw a 14 per cent increase, with 74.21 per cent of its electors turning up to vote.
However, the voter participation saw a major drop in three constituencies with Raichur slipping to 58.34 per cent from 77.7 per cent in 2014. It was followed by Gulbarga (-15 per cent) and Bijapur (-7.2 per cent). Other constituencies also saw dip in voter participation ranging from -0.5 per cent to -6.56 per cent.
The Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) on Monday said that maximum temperatures are likely to be high on Tuesday.