Thursday, June 2 2005 18:12 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bangalore: About 48 per cent of an estimated 12.83 lakh voters turned up to cast their ballot in the Shimoga Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka, which went to bypoll today (June 2, 2005), according to electoral authorities in Bangalore.

The fate of seven candidates including former Chief Minister S Bangarappa who is bidding for re-election through his new political outfit, Samajwadi Party (SP), Ayanur Manjunath (Cong), Bhanu Prakash (Bharatiya Janata Party) and L T Hegde (Janata Dal Secular) has been sealed in ballot boxes in the by-election that remained incident free.

Bangarappa's resignation to his Lok Sabha membership after he quit BJP on whose ticket he was elected in 2004 General Election caused the by-poll in less than an year.

Chamarajpet Assembly constituency, which also went to bypoll, has recorded 52 per cent turnout of voters out of an eligible 1.05-lakh electorate.

In a multi-cornered contest involving 16 candidates, R V Devaraj (Cong), Pramila Nesargi (BJP) and Jamir Ahmed Khan (JDS) are testing their electoral fortunes.

Amidst fierce contest between ruling coalition partners Congress and JDS, the BJP has been trying to retain the Shimoga seat and wrest the Chamarajpet constituency.

The JDS has also made a strong bid to create a base for the party in the city by making the contest in Chamarajpet Assembly constituency a prestigious battle.

The votes would be counted on June 5, 2005.