Mysuru: The fate of the candidates who contested for Nanjangud and Gundlupet by-election will be decided on Thursday. The counting for both the by-elections will start on Thursday at 8 am and by four hours the results are expected to be out but by 9 am the trend is likely to be known.

The high voter turnout in the by-polls to Nanjangud and Gundlupet Assembly segments has enthused politicians from both Congress and BJP camps. Political circles are focused on the outcome in Nanjangud as it has wider implications across the state given that former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa tried to stitch together a winning combination of Lingayats and Dalits. The final polling percentage at Nanjangud registered was 77.45 percent while it was 87.1 percent in Gundlupet. Both segments bettered the 2013 turnout figures. A survey commissioned by the Congress indicates that it’s leading in both segments. It has also hinted that Congress candidate in Nanjangud, Kalale Keshavamurthy has a strong hold over voters in the town. In the 2013 Assembly polls, he had come very close to winning with support from the town voters.

Mysuru and Chamarajanagar district administration has already trained the staff deployed for counting of votes at Nanjangud and Gundlupet constituencies. EVMs will be taken out of the strong rooms at Nanjangud and Gundlupet at 7.30 am. At Nanjangud, the counting will be done at 14 tables in 17 rounds simultaneously. The staff will have to count 1.56 lakh votes. Mysuru district administration has assigned the job of counting to 14 government staff members and kept two officials on reserve.

Ahead of counting, senior officials led by Returning Officer G Jagadeesha trained the 48 staff members at JSS College. As a precautionary measure, DC D Randeep has imposed prohibitory orders across Nanjangud Taluk for 24 hours from 6 am on April 13. The scene is almost the same at Gundlupet with elaborate security arrangements at the counting venue.

In both the constituencies, senior leaders from both Congress and BJP went all out in campaigning for their respective candidates. From both the parties there was a lot of money flow but at the end of the day, people are very eager to know who is their leader. For some of the voters, both the parties have reportedly paid between Rs 500 to Rs 3000 per vote.