The bypoll to Karnataka's Udupi-Chikmagalur Lok Sabha seat saw brisk voting after a dull start Sunday, with around 45 per cent of 1.24 million voters casting their ballots in the first six hours, an official said.
Polling began at 8 a.m. "Polling is brisk and peaceful," a spokesperson for the state election office told reporters in Bangalore.
Retaining the seat is critical for the survival of the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Karnataka.
The bypoll has been caused by BJP's D.V. Sadananda Gowda vacating the seat after becoming chief minister in August last year, succeeding scam-hit B.S. Yeddyurappa.
The fight is between BJP's youth leader V. Sunil Kumar and K. Jayaprakash Hegde of the Congress, though Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) also has its candidate S.L. Bhoje Gowda, a local leader, in the fray.
Around 7,000 police personnel are on duty to ensure smooth polling in the constituency spread over Udupi and Chikmagalur districts, said state chief electoral office C.S. Suranjan.
Votes will be counted on March 21.