New Delhi, Apr 23 (UNI) Amid one killed in Bengal, sporadic violence, technical glitches in Electronic Voting Machines and around 11 natural death while voting in Kerala, 66.76 per cent polling was recorded in 117 parliamentary constituencies spread across 13 states and two Union Territories in the third-phase of ongoing Lok Sabha polls.
According to the available information from the Election Commission of India, till 1900 hrs, Anantnag in Jammu and Kashmir witnessed a 12.86 per cent polling, Chhattisgarh registered 64.03 per cent voting, West Bengal 78.97 per cent, Assam 79.16, Bihar 54.95, Goa 70.97, Gujarat 59.01, Karnataka 60.42, Kerala 69.48, Maharashtra 55.95, Odisha 58.18, Tripura 79 pc, Uttar Pradesh 56.57, Dadar and Nagar Haveli 71.43, Daman and Diu 65.34 per cent.
In Gujarat all the 26 seats, Kerala all 20, Goa all two, lone seat Tripura went for voting.
In Uttar Pradesh, polling was conducted on 10 seats, Assam four, Bihar five, Chhattishgarh seven, Jammu and Kashmir one, Kartanaka 14, Odisha six, Maharashtra 14, Bengal five. In Union Territories, the lone seat of Daman and Diu and single constituency of Dadra and Nagar Haveli went for voting.
In Tripura East parliamentary constituency, the polling was rescheduled from second phase to third phase due to security reasons. In militancy-hit Anantnag parliamentary constituency polling was conducted in 16 assembly segments. The rest assembly segments will go to polls in other two phase due to security reasons.
Violence
At least one person was killed and another seriously injured in Bengal.
One person, namely Piarul Abul Kalam, was killed in Murshidabad Lok Sabha constituency of Bengal in poll violence.In another incident, in the same constituency, husband of TMC councillor was injured in a blast.
Presiding Officer was removed following the incident.
Eleven people including died and four polling officials fainted in various incidents during the Lok Sabha election for 20 seats in Kerala on Tuesday.
In Kerala, violent incidents were reported in Kasargod district during the final hour of voting when activists of LDF and UDF clashed at each other. An IUML worker was stabbed by miscreants in connection with the incident.
Moreover, tension prevailed in Vadakara when Congress candidate V Muralidharan was stopped by LDF activists from visiting a booth in the constituency. Similar incident was reported in Kannur where Congress candidate K Sudakaran was blocked by LDF workers.
In Anantnag (J&K), few incidents of stone pelting were reported amid strike called by the Separatist. However, the polling, though low, was by and large peaceful.
Star fare
Prime Minister Narendra Modi cast his vote at Nishan School booth in Ranip area of Ahmedabad which falls under Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat.
Former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and his wife Gurcharan Kaur cast their vote from Guwahati Lok Sabha seat.
Bhartiya Janta Party president Amit Shah cast his vote at a booth in Naranpura.
Veteran BJP leader L K Advani and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley exercised their franchise in Ahmedabad city.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik cast his vote at Aerodrome colony ME school booth near his residence in Orissa.
Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti cast her vote at Bijbehara in Anantnag.
Regional Vs National parties
In Uttar Pradesh, till the reports last came in, 60.52 per cent of overall voting was recorded in 10 LS seats.
The polling percentage in Moradabad was 64.11 per cent, Rampur 60 per cent, Sambal 61.8 per cent, Ferozabad 58.8 per cent, Mainpuri 57.80 per cent, Etah 59.90 per cent, Badaun 57.5 per cent, Aonla 59.18 per cent, Bareilly 61.49 per cent and Pilibhit 64.6 per cent.
The voting per cent in third phase in UP dropped slightly as compared to previous two phase which registered around 63 pc polling. Rising heat wave conditions could be one of the reasons, an official said.
A total of 1.78 crore voters exercised their franchise.
The polling was more so peaceful. However, reports of minor clashes were reported from Moradabad, Sambhal and Badaun besides Samajwadi candidates from Badaun and Rampur alleged malpractices by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party candidates in nexus with the authorities. Vehicle of a BJP candidate from Badaun was also stoned.
In today's polling, the fate of 120 candidates including Union Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar (Bareilly), Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav (Mainpuri), actor-turned-politician Jaya Prada and Samajwadi Party leader Mohammad Azam Khan (Rampur), BJP leader Varun Gandhi (Pilibhit) and Pragatsheel Samajwadi Party Lohia (SBSP) chief Shivpal Singh Yadav (Ferozabad), were sealed in the EVMs.
Except for Badaun and Mainpuri, the remaining eight seats are currently held by the BJP in this phase.
Chief Electoral officer (CEO) Vekenteshwarlu said here that in this phase Ferozabad, Mainpuri, Sambhal, Badaun and Aonla constituencies polled less percentage than 2014. In Ferozabad the downfall was by nine per cent while in Mainpuri it was around three per cent.
He said that in this phase during mock polls 232 Balloting Unit (BU), 180 Controlling Unit (CU) and 373 VVPAT were changed while during polling 148 BU, 136 CU and 458 VVPAT were replaced.
The Samajwadi Party submitted a memorandum to the EC about the anomalies in Rampur and Badaun.
Meanwhile, voters of Bharadwajpura village under Jaswantnagar Assembly segment of Ferozabad boycotted the elections, due to non-development and sanitation issues in their village.
Voters of Mukundpur Rajmal in Moradabad constituency also boycotted the polls due to a murder of a person in the village on Monday. Voters of Dohai village in Badaun Lok Sabha seat too boycotted the polls, due to lack of development in their village.
However, stringent checking of the identity of the burka-clad women during voting, irked some people, leading to objection by political parties.
Militancy-hit Anantnag
About 13.61 per cent polling was recorded in the first of three phase polling in six of the 16 Assembly segments of Anantnag Parliamentary Constituency (PC) in south Kashmir.
Barring few incidents of stone pelting, the polling remained by and large peaceful in the constituency which was held amidst unprecedented security arrangements following boycott and strike called by Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) .
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Shalinder Kumar told media persons this evening that 13.61 per cent polling was recorded in Anantnag district of the constituency against 39.37 voter turnout in 2014.
The voter turnout today was lowest so far recorded in the state. Earlier lowest was 14 per cent in Srinagar constituency.
In the main town Bijbehara, hometown of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti, seeking mandate from the constituency and Anantnag town witnessed less polling as compared to outskirts and villages, where people, including some women cast their votes. Mehbooba also cast her vote at Bijbehara.
At some polling booths women, wearing traditional Kashmir “Pheran” came out in large numbers to exercise their democratic right.
Red Zone
Polling progressed peacefully for third and last phase of Lok Sabha elections in seven seats of Chhattisgarh with around 64.69 pc voting recorded till 1800 hrs.
Seven seats that went for polling were Raipur, Bilaspur, Durg, Janjgir, Korba, Raigarh and Sarguja constituencies. According to information last received, polling is still underway at several polling centres due to long queues of voters. Voters were also seen standing in queues in front of some polling centres in the capital Raipur.
Premises of all the polling centres have been closed at 1700 hrs which was specified for the end of voting. But voters who already entered the premises of polling centres till 1700 hrs would be allowed to cast votes before the end of polling. In view of this it will take some time for final polling percentage to come.
However, the polling percentage is likely to cross 70 per cent.
Total 123 candidates are in fray in seven seats. They included 25 candidates in Raipur, 25 in Bilaspur, 14 in Raigarh, 13 in Korba, 15 in Janjgir-Champa, 21 in Durg and 10 candidates in Sarguja.
Sugarcane belt
According to Election Commission of India, an overall 62 per cent voting was recorded in Maharashtra till 1900 hrs.
The nine seats of Maharashtra--Jalgaon,Raver,Raigad,Pune,Baramati,Ahmednagar,Madha,Satara,and Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg went for pooling today.
In Aurangabad, few incidents were reported of technical glitches in EVMs, bogus voting and missing of names in voter's list. According to the polling percentage figures available until 1700 hrs, 59.92 per cent polling was recorded in Jalna while it was 58.52 per cent in Aurangabad.
Meanwhile, three bogus voters were arrested by the police when they were trying to cast bogus votes while ten others fled from the polling centre, at Zakir Hussein school in city, on seeing the police.
An estimated 65.76 and 65.59 percent polling recorded for Kolhapur and Hatkanangale Lok Sabha constituencies respectively after the end of polling at 1800 hrs.
Among 15 candidates contesting from Kolhapur seat, prominent contenders include the Nationalist Congress Party's sitting MP Dhananjay Mahadik against whom Shiv Sena has pitted Sanjay Mandlik.
Similar scenario sketches the visual of electoral battle in Hatkanangale seat where the sitting MP Raju Shetty of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghstana has locked horns with Shiv Sena's Dhairyasheel Mane.
Sangli Lok Sabha seat recorded 45.85 per cent voter turnout till 1500 hrs.
Voters in huge numbers from urban as well as rural areas thronged respective polling booths to exercise their suffrage rights.
The 94-year-old freedom fighter Hausabai Patil cast her vote in Hanamantvadiye village in Kadegaon tehsil of this district.
Parrikar-void Goa
Polling for Lok Sabha elections and by-elections in Goa ended peacefully with around 70.90 per cent polling recorded till 1700 hrs in two Lok Sabha constituencies.
According to officials at Election Office here, North Goa Lok Sabha constituency recorded 72.97 per cent of polling while South Goa 69.90 per cent, with average turnout of 70.90 per cent.
In Mandrem, Mapusa and Shiroda Assembly constituencies, where by-elections are underway, the polling percentage till 1700 hrs was recorded at 75.99%, 75.17% and 75.72% respectively.
However, at some of the polling stations there were reports of delay in starting of polling due to problems in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). At one polling station in Cuncolim assembly segment all the EVMs were replaced following a complaint by Aam Adami Party (AAP) Lok Sabha election candidate Elvis Gomes.
The prominent candidates in South Goa are former State Chief Minister Francisco Sardinha, Aam Adami Party (AAP) Goa Convenor Elvis Gomes, BJP MP Narendra Sawaikar and Shiv Sena Vice President Rakhi Prabhudessai Naik.
In North Goa, prominent candidates are Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) President Girish Chodankar, Union Minister for AYUSH Shripad Naik and AAP candidate Pradeep Padgaonkar.
Vibrant Gujarat
Polling percentage on all the 26 Lok Sabha seats of Gujarat was 59 per cent at 1800 hrs.
Bypolls were held in four Assembly segments due to resignation of as many Congress MLA.
Maximum 58.56 per cent of turnout was in Bardoli-ST constituency while the minimum 40.80 per cent was on Porbandar seat.
The polling, which would conclude at 1800 hrs, will decide the fate of over 400 candidates including BJP president Amit Shah, incumbent minister Parbat Patel, four former union ministers, leader of opposition in state assembly Paresh Dhanani and 7 other sitting Congress MLAs.
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani along with wife Anjali Rupani voted on a booth in Raiya road constituency in Rajkot. Anandiben Patel cast her vote at Shilaj booth in Ahmedabad also under Gandhinagar LS seat.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Nonagenarian mother Hiraba voted in Raisan in Gandhinagar.
His wife Jasodaben voted in Unjha area in Mahesana. Congress treasurer Ahmed Patel voted in Ankaleshwar in Bharuch. Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala voted in Rajkot.
DyCM Nitin Patel would cast vote at a booth in Kadi under Mahesana constituency. Gujarat assembly speaker Rajendra Trivedi cast his vote in home-city Vadodara along with family members. Gujarat governor O P Kohli voted in Gandhinagar.
Congress leader Hardik Patel cast his vote in Virmgam under Surendranagar constituency. He expressed disappointment about the slow pace of voting and said that with a low turnout a strong government could not be elected.
Billionaire Industrialist Gautam Adani, whom Congress President Rahul Gandhi targets during his poll campaign for his alleged proximity to PM Modi, cast his vote in Bopal area in Ahmedabad under Gandhinagar constituency.
There are a total 371 candidates for LS polls in Gujarat and for assembly by-polls a total 45 candidates have remained in the final fray.
Floods, Sabrimala
An average 73.06 per cent of voter turnout was recorded for 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala when the polling was ended at 1800 hrs amidst complaints of technical glitches in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).
However, long queues are still seen in hundreds of booths across the state that could lead to a slight change in the final figure, according to sources in Election Commission.
The highest voter turnout was recorded in Kannur at 78.16 per cent and Ponnani registered the lowest polling at 68.31 per cent, the sources said.
Kasaragod recorded 74.5 per cent polling, Vadakara 72.98, Wayanad 76.21, Kozhikode 72.45, Malappuram 71.04, Palakkad 74.12, Alathur 74.69, Thrissur 73.29, Chalakkudy 75.97, Ernakulam 72.02, Idukki 73.5, Kottayam 73.08, Alappuzha 75.2, Mavelikkara 71.08, Pathanamthitta 71.39, Kollam 71.1, Attingal 71.8 and Thiruvananthapuram 70.86.
Eleven people died and four polling officials fainted in various incidents during the Lok Sabha election for 20 seats in Kerala on Tuesday.
Police said an 84-year-old woman, Rosama, died when she came to exercise her franchise at Thakkarayikulam near Vaikom in Kottayam this morning.
Other victims were identified as Prabhakaran (74) at Mattam North in Kandiyur of Mavelikkara, KR Baburaj (55) at Pullur of Kasargod, Venugopala Marar (57) in Thaliparmbu, Purushan (63) at Kilikollur of Kollam, Thresiakutty (87) at Kalady in Ernakulam, IUML activist AK Musthafa (52) in Thalassery and Chacko Mathew (66) of Ranni in Pathanamthitta district.
The polling agent of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) was allegedly stabbed by CPI(M) led Left Democratic Front (LDF) activists following a conflict at Chattanjal-Thekkil in Uduma in this district.
Four officials had fainted during their poll duties -- two officials at Chalakkudy in Thrissur district and a polling officer at Enadimangalam and another polling official at Piralasseri -- in the state, Police added.
A miscreant has destroyed the VVPAT machine and an EVM in Edakkad here when the voting process was coming to a close.
A small snake was found inside a Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machine at a booth near Mayyil in Kannur district during the voting.
Reacting to the incident, Mr Shashi Tharoor, contesting from Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat, in a tweet commented that "Snake inside VVPAT machine holds up polling in Kannur — this must be a first for Indian democracy?
Devagoda hotbed
Karnataka recorded 60.42 percent polling till 1900 hrs in the 14 Lok Sabha seats, for which elections are being conducted in second phase Lok Sabha polls Karnataka (third phase in the country), till 1700 hours on Tuesday.
According to official sources, the polling is brisk in almost all the 14 Lok Sabha seats, with the Shivamogga, Haveri and Chikkodi clocking more than 65 per cent of till 1700 hours.
In the other Lok Sabha seats the per centage of polling is as follows, Bidar 58.72, Chikkodi 66.27, Bagalkot 63.78 Vijayapura 53.85, Kalaburagi 52.8, Raichur 51.73, Bidar 56.90, Koppal 60.66, Belagavi 62.02, Haveri 63.22, Dharwad 62.22, Uttara Kannada 65.68, Davanagere 66.73 and Shivamogga 68.71.
The prominent candidates among the total number of 237 candidates are Mallikarjuna Kharge, Anantghakumara Hegde, Ramesh Jigajinagi, Prahlad Joshi, Suresh Angadi and G M Siddehwara.
Police canned to disperse an irate mob which tried to attack BJP Candidate Dr Umesh Jadhav's car near Darga road in the heart of the city on Tuesday.
Anti-incumbency?
Over 61 per cent polling was recorded in Odisha in the third phase election to six Lok sabha and 42 Assembly seats in Odisha by 1700 hours.
CEO office sources said polling was suspended in booth number 196 under Baramba Assembly constituency and booth number 183 under Deogarh Assembly constituency due to the wrong connection of EVM with VVPAT machine and re polling in these two booths has been recommended to the Election Commission.
Barring stray incidents of violence the third phase polling was by and large peaceful.
In Khordha district booth number 1 under Kalanga panchayat five people were injured outside the booth following a clash between the supporters of two rival political party on allegation of booth rigging.
Tension prevailed in the ITI booth near penthkata in puri following complaint of rigging and angry villagers in Kama sashan booth number 222 in Brahmagiri Assembly constituency damaged the EVM machine when they detected malfunctioning of the machine.
The BJP alleged booth rigging in at least 13 booths in Nayagarh Assembly constituency and filed a written complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik cast his vote at Aerodrome colony ME school booth near his residence.Soon after casting his vote, Mr Patnaik told newspersons that this time BJD will perform very well in the election.
Besides Mr Patnaik Union Minister for Petroleum Dharmendra Pradhan cast his vote at Deulibada Telisahi Primary School in Talcher, Puri Gajapati Divyasingh Deb and Maharani at Puri and Odisha Pradesh Congress President Niranjan Patnaik cast his ballot in Ghasipura assembly constituency
Citizenship-Yes/No?
The polling percentage in third and final phase Lok Sabha election in Assam neared 80% with the final figure still being compiled.
Till 1900 hours, 78.52% polling was registered, official sources said, adding that since all voters standing in queue or entering the polling station premise before closing time are allowed to vote, the final voting percentage increase.
Dhubri constituency has so far recorded the highest turnout with 81.29%, followed by Guwahati with 78.75%, Barpeta 77.65% and Kokrajhar 76. 16%.
In Dhubri, a polling officer was reportedly removed from duty following allegations of malpractice.
Malfunction of EVMs was reported from several places and officials rushed to fix the glitches, even as there was delay in start of polling or polling was interrupted in many places due to it.
A 60-year-old woman, suffering from hyper-tension, collapsed and died at a polling station in Ronjuli in Goalpara district. She was rushed to a local hospital, where she was pronounced brought dead.
No incident of violence has been reported from any part so far.
The fate of 54 candidates has been sealed in the EVMs with polling conducted in 9577 polling stations, including 147 all-women polling stations, 125 model polling stations and 524 remote polling stations.
Bengal and violence
At least one person was killed and another seriously injured during the third of the seven-phase polling in Bengal today even as an estimated 80 per cent of 8,023,846 electorate exercised their franchise to decide the fate of 61 candidates in five Parliamentary constituencies of Balurghat, Malda North, Malda South, Jangipur and Murshidabad.
While Murshidabad recorded 81.41 per cent, Jangipur 78.58, Balurghat 82.29, Malda Uttar 76.43 and Malda Dakshin 77.41.
One person, named Tearul Abul Kalam, reportedly a Congress worker was today lynched near booth No 188 at Balligram under Bhogwangola in Murshidadad.
No deaths were reported in the first two phases of election on April 11 and 19.
Meanwhile, a polling officer found hanging in his house in Buniadpur, South Dinajpur in Balurghat constituency.
Babulal Murmu allegedly committed suicide on Monday night. His wife has alleged that he was under pressure and was disturbed because of developments in West Bengal in the last two phases.
No complaint has been registered against anyone in the matter so far.
An another incident, at Tiktiki Para of Domkol in Murshidabad, the husband of a TMC councillor was injured in a bombing and being rushed to Kolkata for treatment, while false voting was reported from a Ratua booth in Malda leading to the removal of Presiding Officer.
Lone Tripura
East Tripura parliamentary constituency recorded about 79 per cent casting votes till 1700 hrs
Nitish Vs Lalu
An estimated 60 per cent of nearly 89 lakhs electorates exercised their franchise sealing fates in EVMs of 82 candidates, including veteran socialist leader Sharad Yadav, in 3rd phase of Lok Sabha polls which passed off peacefully in Bihar today.
Voting was held today in five seats, including Jhanjharpur, Supaul, Araria, Madhepura and Khagaria.
Chief Electoral Officer H R Srinivas told media persons here that an estimated 60 per cent electorates exercised their franchise in the 3rd phase of Lok Sabha elections in Bihar. Maximum 62.80 per cent polling was recorded in Supaul followed by 62.34 per cent in Araria, 59.12 per cent in Madhepura, 58.83 per cent in Khagaria and 56.92 percent in Jhanjharpur Lok Sabha seat, he added.
EVMs had developed snags at some booths in Araria constituency, but polling resumed after problems were sorted out.
Even torrential rains and high velocity wind did not deter electorate in Araria and Jhanjharpur Lok Sabha constituency where electorate exercised their franchise with remarkable enthusiasm and glee.
Polling in nine of total 40 seats in Bihar was conducted in the first two phases of Lok Sabha elections.
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