Kundagol: Bypoll for the Kundagol constituency will be held on May 19. The bypoll was necessitated following the death of MLA CS Shivalli on March 22 due to a heart attack. The Congress and JD(S) coalition has fielded Shivalli’s wife Kusumavati against BJP’s S Chikkanagoudar. This is the first election for Kusumavati whereas Chikkanagoudar faced CS Shivalli in the Assembly elections held in May 2018.

The Election Commission (EC) have already begun preparations. The mustering (bringing together all volunteers and officers to give them final instructions) will be held at Harabhatt College in Kundagol. The constituency has 1,89,435 voters, who will exercise their franchise in 214 polling booths.

The EC has appointed 968 polling officers and will provide a control unit, ballot unit and VVPAT for each polling station.

To prevent any disruption during election, the EC has also arranged for 43 additional control units, 44 ballot units and 157 VVPATs as standby. Three teams of BEL engineers will constantly monitor the technical aspects and will swoop into action if any glitches are reported.

Ink will be put on the middle finger of the left hand as people recently voted for the Lok Sabha election on April 23 where the index finger of left hand was inked.

To maintain law and order during polling, two DySPs, six police inspectors, 17 sub inspectors, 41 assistant sub inspectors, 114 head constables, 144 constables and 216 home guards have been deployed. 68 para-military staff will also be stationed across the region.

The Election Commission has identified 38 polling stations as sensitive and 33 as hypersensitive, where para-military staff will be deployed. 25 CCTV cameras have also been installed in these polling stations. Drinking water facility, toilets will be available at all polling stations.