Polling stations wore almost a deserted look all through the day and there were times when the security personnel outnumbered the voters at booths. There were no long queues found in any of the booths throughout the day. The first three hours of voting showed just a 20 per cent turnout and the figures did not seem to improve even as the day progressed. Several persons stayed indoors thanks to the scorching heat. However, in the evening, things improved slightly, but again this was restricted to constituencies dominated by the lower middle class population.

The first phase of the elections was crucial for both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, which had hoped to turn its political fortunes. The BJP, like always, relied heavily on the urban electorate and seemed pretty upbeat when the urban constituencies went up by almost double following the delimitation exercise.

The Congress too made it evident that it was trying to capture the urban votes when it brought in urban-friendly leader S M Krishna back into mainstream politics. Krishna's campaign largely was restricted to the urban areas of Karnataka. He was also given the additional responsibility of turning the Vokkaliga votes in the favour of the Congress since he too belongs to the same community.

Photograph: KPN Photos