Bengaluru: Post the Assembly by-polls in Karnataka on Thursday (December 5), C-Voter survey has predicted eight to 12 seats for the ruling BJP out of  the 15 constituencies.

Till 5.30 pm, 60% voter turnout was recorded in the 15 constituencies. The by-polls were declared after 17 MLAs from the Congress and JD(S) resigned. They were disqualified by the then Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar.

The resignations resulted in the fall of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government headed by HD Kumaraswamy, in July this year. The BJP staked claim and formed the government under the leadership of BS Yediyurappa. In the 224-member Assembly, the BJP has 105 MLAs.

The results of by-polls will be declared on Monday (December 9).

Earlier, the polling day saw a lot of developments since early morning. While several leaders cast their votes in the constituencies, several citizens stole some time from their busy schedule to exercise their franchise.

One of them was a bridegroom who walked into the booth at Gokak to cast his vote. He was supposed to go to Goa in the afternoon to tie the knot.

A couple, in spite of their advanced age, took the trouble of walking into a polling booth at Hoskote early morning.

A pink booth was set up in Bengaluru’s Shivajinagar to enable women to cast their votes freely.

On the other side, a close aide of Shivaram Hebbar, the BJP candidate from Yellapura, was seen distributing money as enticement. A video in this regard also went viral.

A spat broke out between the Congress and BJP workers outside a booth in Hoskote.

While in Chikkaballapura, poll agents fought with poll authorities over the issue of their absence in the polling booths. However, they were warned not to do. The voting continued.

Sadly, in a number of constituencies like Athani, Gokak, Mahalakshmi Layout, Shivajinagar and Yeshwantpur, electronic voting machines (EVMs) malfunctioned, angering and frustrating the general public. Later, they were rectified and the polling continued.

Another important glitch was as many as 200 people were shocked to see their names missing from the voters’ list in Mahalakshmi Layout. As they were asked to come and vote the next time, they felt infuriated.

The day also protests by activists who held placards to lodge their anguish against the disqualified MLAs.

It was also sad to see a candidate Nagaraj of Yeshwantpur on a Congress ticket seen using his phone inside the polling booth. BJP candidate Saravana was seen taking a photo of the EVM after he cast his vote.

Interesting facts

· Police sent Congress agent away from a polling booth in Chikkaballapur. He is accused of having criminal background

· District election officer suspended a polling officer as he entered the polling  booth in Gokak in an inebriated state.

· Election was boycotted by Mudlapur residents in Vijayanagar constituency demanding infrastructure

· KR Pet candidate from JD(S), BL Devaraju turned the electronic voting machine (EVM) citing vaastu problem

· In Hunsur, Congress candidate HP Manjunath and BJP candidate H Vishwanath prayed at Sai Baba temple together. But both did not greet nor did their supporters speak to each other

· A  man fell in the polling booth and died on the spot in Hirekerur

·  There was no light inside a polling booth. Voters staged protest at a booth in Chikkaballapur, said they can't vote in darkness