Polling ends in Karnataka: Rahul Gandhi thanks voters, lauds Cong leaders for ‘dignified’ campaign

New Delhi, May 10 (PTI) As polling wound up Wednesday evening in the Karnataka assembly elections, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi thanked the voters of the state and lauded party leaders for a “well-run, dignified and people-oriented campaign”

Voting came to an end for the Karnataka Assembly elections at 6 pm, with data showing a turnout of 65.69 per cent till an hour before that.

“I want to thank the Babbar Sher workers and leaders of Congress for a well-run, dignified and solid people-oriented campaign. Thank you to the people of Karnataka for coming out in large numbers to vote for a progressive future,” he said in a tweet.

According to the voter turnout figure for the polls to the 224-member Assembly, Ramanagara recorded the highest turnout of 78.22 per cent, while the lowest polling was from Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) South limits (parts of Bengaluru city) at 48.63 per cent, election officials said.

The state is mainly witnessing a three-cornered contest between the ruling BJP, the Congress and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda’s Janata Dal (Secular).

A total of 5.31 crore electors were eligible to cast their vote. The EC set up 58,545 polling stations across the state, while there are 2,615 candidates are in the fray.