Preparations in full swing in Bagalkot for counting of bypoll votes today

Officials are preparing for the counting of votes in the Bagalkot Assembly bypoll, scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. on Monday. The counting will take place at the University of Horticultural Sciences with 23 rounds of counting and arrangements for postal ballots and voters over 80 years old. The election is considered a contest between Umesh Meti, son of the late MLA H.Y. Meti, and Veeranna (Veerabhadrayya) Charantimath of the BJP. The main contenders are expected to benefit from the sympathy factor surrounding the death of H.Y. Meti and the political campaigning by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi, and BJP State president B.Y. Vijayendra.