Bangalore: Polling, which began on a dull note, picked up momentum, with 22 to 25 per cent of the over 2.62 crore electorate voting by noon in the 17 Lok Sabha segments that went to the polls in the first phase in Karnataka, on Thursday.
Voting, which began at 0700 hrs IST, remained peaceful across the 17 segments, barring minor incidents of boycotting of polls in some villages and an incident of skirmish between the Congress and BJP workers at Hale Dyamanahalli in Chitradurga segment.
Police resorted to mild lathi charge to disperse the two groups.
The highest poll percentage of 27 was reported from Bellary, while
Chitradurga and Raichur recorded the lowest turn out of 17 per cent by noon.
The political fortunes of 271 candidates would be sealed in this phase. The second phase of polls for the remaining 11 segments would be held on April 30.
Prominent among the early voters include former Chief Ministers M Veerappa Moily, H D Kumaraswamy, S M Krishna and N Dharam Singh.
Others in the list include centenarian Siddaganga Mutt seer Shivakumara Swamiji as well as Gowrishankar Swamiji, the lone seer in fray.
In Thodur colony, voters in the Uttara Kannada LS seat near Karwar, boycotted the polls in protest against the acquisition of their land for the 'Sea Bird' Naval base.
In Yeshwanthpur Assembly segment, some of the voters staged protest after not finding their names in the electoral list, despite holding EPIC issued by the Election Commission. Names of about 500 voters were reportedly missing from the electoral rolls.
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