West Bengal was ahead of other states in polling percentage as voting continued at a brisk pace in seven states and two union territories in seventh phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Wednesday.
The seats where polling is on are Howrah, Hooghly, Serampore, Bolpur, Arambagh, Burdwan East, Burdwan-Durgapur, Birbhum and Uluberia.
62 per cent was recorded in Gujarat, where voting is underway for 26 Lok Sabha constituencies even as Modi's home turf Vadodara witnessed a high turnout of 50.46 per cent .
Mehsana recorded 30 percent, Chhota Udepur 30, Valsad 26, Navsari 24, Bhavnagar 23, Porbandar 16, Dahod 22, Anand 27, Ahmedabad East 17, Patan 17, Amreli 21, Khed 21, Sabarkantha 32, Bardoli 25, Jambusar 21, Surendranagar 21, Junagadh 28, Rajkot 24, Surat 26, Panchmahal 22.
Barring skirmishes in Punjab that left 10 persons injured, voting was by and large peaceful.
The Ludhiana district administration handed out 'joyful voting' certificates to those casting their votes.
Nearly 57 per cent voters exercised their franchise in Uttar Pradesh, where polling is underway in 14 seats to decide the fate of 233 candidates.
Andhra Pradesh witnessed 26.96 per cent voter turnout till 12 noon today.
Braving the scorching sun, Bihar registered a voter turnout of about 48 per cent till 3 pm for seven Lok Sabha seats in the fourth phase of elections in the state.
Jammu and Kashmir witnessed 10.72 per cent voter turn out till 12 noon.
DAMAN AND DIU
Till 3 pm, 68 per cent voting was recorded in polling for nine seats in West Bengal while the numbers were 50 per cent in Telangana by 1 am and 37 per cent in Gujarat.
WEST BENGAL
Voter turnout was nearly 81 per cent for nine seats in West Bengal in the seventh phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Wednesday.
"On an average 67.34 per cent voters cast their votes in the first seven hours of polling," West Bengal Assistant CEO Amitjyoti Bhattacharya said in Kolkata.
Polling was being held in Howrah, Uluberia, Serampore, Hooghly, Arambagh, Burdwan(East), Burdwan-Durgapur, Bolpur and Birbhum.
The polling percentage was very good in the first four hours and a large number voters were waiting in queues in most polling stations, he said.
Polling was peaceful and incident-free, the CEO said.
Some EVMs had to be replaced after mock polling.
Arrangements were made for webcasting and live monitoring of sensitive areas amid tight security provided by central forces which were more than double than the 2011 Assembly election.
Bye-election in Galsi (SC) Assembly seat in Burdwan district was also being held.
Polling in nine parliamentary constituencies began peacefully in West Bengal in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections in the state today.
The polling percentage was very good in the first four hours in WB.
The prominent candidates in the fray today are BJP's Bappi Lahiri in Serampore, journalist-turned-politician Chandan Mitra in Hooghly and actor George Baker in Howrah, who carry the party's hopes to score big for the first time in the state.
Among Trinamool Congress candidates are sitting MPs Satabdi Roy from Birbhum, Kalyan Banerjee from Serampore and Sultan Ahmed from Uluberia besides Prasun Banerjee from Howrah, a former India soccer player.
For the CPI-M, it will be a fight to hold on to four seats - Bolpur, Burdwan East, Burdwan-Durgapur and Arambagh among the nine which it had won the last time.
Congress candidate Abdul Mannan is also in the fray in Serampore.
There are also 13 women contestants in the election in which 1,39,43,063 voters will exercise their franchise.
GUJARAT
Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP's prime ministerial candidateNarendra Modi's mother Heeraben casted her ballot in Gandhinagar on Wednesday, April 30, 2014.
In Gujarat, BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and party veteran L K Advani were among the early voters in Gandhinagar.
Long queues were witnessed all over the state outside polling booths since early morning hours. People were found queueing up in front of the polling booths even before the polling started at 7 am.
According to election officials, the state notched up a healthy 31 percent polling by 11 a.m.
Vadodara, from where Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is contesting, recorded a whopping 32 percent in the first four hours of balloting.
Ahmedabad, the smallest constituency in terms of electorate with a large minority population, touched barely 15 percent, followed by Kachchh, the sparse and largest constituency in terms of area, at 17 percent.
Congress leader Dinsha Patel casted his vote in Kheda, Gujarat.
A total of 334 candidates, among them many bigwigs, are in the fray, including 67 Muslims - one from the Congress, seven from the Samajwadi Party and the rest nominated by regional parties or contesting as Independents.
An electorate of around 4.05 crore is eligible to exercise its franchise at 45,380 polling stations across the state.
Lok Sabha polls in all 26 seats of Gujarat and by-polls for seven state assembly seats began on Wednesday, officials said.A total of 334 candidates are in the fray for the Lok Sabha. Balloting is taking place at 45,380 polling stations where over 234,000 polling personnel have been deployed. More than 40 million people are eligible to vote in all 26 constituencies where voting is being held in a single phase.
PUNJAB
SAD sitting MP from Bathinda Lok Sabha seat Harsimrat Kaur Badal interacts with media after casting her vote.
An impressive turnout of 55 per cent was registered till 2 PM in parts of Punjab, where 253 contestants are in fray for 13 Lok Sabha seats.
However, minor clashes erupted between Akali Dal and Congress workers in Moga, Khadoor Sahib and Amritsar.
At least ten persons were injured in a clash between Akali and Congress workers at Sangatpura village in Moga, officials said, adding, that police intervened and peace was restored in the area.
Voters in Patiala queued up at polling stations to caste their votes.
In Patiala, Capt Amarinder Singh's son Raninder Singh cast his vote at Govt College for Girls soon after the polling started.
AAP candidate Dharamvira Gandhi casts his vote at Govt College for women in Patiala.
The SAD-BJP nominee Deepinder Singh Dhillon cast his vote in Chat village of Mohali district falling under Patiala constituency.
Prominent candidates among a total of 253 in Punjab include Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley and his Congress rival Amarinder Singh from Amritsar seat and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal's daughter-in-law and SAD MP Harsimrat Kaur and nephew Manpreet Singh Badal of Congress from Bathinda.
Actor-turned-politician Vinod Khanna (BJP) and his rival Punjab Congress Chief Partap Singh Bajwa from Gurdaspur, Leader of Opposition in Punjab assembly Sunil Kumar Jakhar (Congress) against SAD's sitting MP Sher Singh Ghubaya from Ferozepur, Congress veteran Ambika Soni against Akali stalwart Prem Singh Chandumajra are among others in the fray.
Voting began in Punjab on Wednesday for all its 13 Lok Sabha seats that went to the polls in a single phase, officials said.
Prominent candidates are Akali Dal's Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Bharatiya Janata Party's Arun Jaitley, Congress's Amarinder Singh, and three-time BJP MP, actor Vinod Khanna. As many as 253 candidates are in the fray.
UTTAR PRADESH
Congress leader Rita Bahuguna Joshi.
UP Governor B L Joshi, BSP supremo Mayawati, Congress candidate from Lucknow Rita Bahuguna Joshi, BJP National President Rajnath Singh and party leader Kalraj Mishra were among those who exercised their franchise.
Dhaurahra witnessed 62.8 per cent polling till 1700 hours while Sitapur and Mishrikh recorded 59.4 and 53.96 per cent polling respectively.
Unnao recorded 50.94 per cent polling, Mohanlalganj 56 per cent, Lucknow 50.5 per cent, Rae Bareli 48.1 per cent, Kanpur 50.2 per cent, Jalaun 52 per cent, Jhansi 63 per cent, Hamirpur 49.1 per cent, Banda 47.52 per cent, Fatehpur 54.58 per cent and Barabanki recorded 58.19 per cent polling.
In Sitapur an FIR has been lodged against SP MLA Rampal Yadav after he entered into an altercation with CRPF jawan Dharampal Singh at Nauabehad polling booth in Biswan area.
The fate of 233 candidates will be decided by 2.46 crore voters that include 1.34 crore men and 1.12 crore women.
A total of 25,485 polling centres have been set up in which 3554 have been identified as critical. The focus would be on Rae Bareli and Lucknow seats from where Congress President Sonia Gandhi and BJP President Rajnath Singh are in the fray.
Gandhi, who is contesting from her traditional Rae Bareli seat, has no major contestant against her with SP deciding not to field its candidate against her.
The prestigious Lucknow seat, which is in the limelight with the entry of the BJP's national president, is set to witness a tricky contest.
Rajnath, who is facing a four-cornered contest has two tasks at hand - first to maintain legacy of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and second to ensure a victory margin matching with his political stature.
Meanwhile, British High Commissioner James David Bevan today reached Lucknow and visited a number of polling centres to see the polling exercise.
According to official sources he also visited the election commission office and met Governor Joshi, Rajnath, Mayawati and Rita Joshi.
He is also to visited polling centre in Rae Bareli parliamentary constituency of Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
ANDHRA PRADESH
Accompanied by his security guards, Chiranjeevi, his wife, their actor son Ramcharan Teja and other family members were standing in the queue at the polling centre in the posh Jubliee Hills neighbourhood.
Simultaneous balloting began Wednesday in Andhra Pradesh for 17 Lok Sabha seats and 119 state assembly seats in Telangana region, officials said.
The key contestants for the Lok Sabha are union Ministers S. Jaipal Reddy, Sarve Satyanarayana and Balram Naik, Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao, Lok Satta Party chief Jayaprakash Narayan and Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi.
Telangana will formally become a state June 2.
The main contenders for the assembly seats include Chandrasekhara Rao, Congress's Telangana unit president Ponnala Lakshmaiah, working president Uttam Kumar Reddy, former deputy chief minister Damodar Rajanarasimha, and former state ministers Geeta Reddy and D. Sridhar Babu.
Balloting is taking place at 30,574 polling booths.
As many as 265 candidates are in the fray for the Lok Sabha and 1,669 for the assembly seats.
More than 28.17 million electors are eligible to exercise their franchise.
BIHAR
An electorate of 1.12 crore voters will exercise their franchise in 10,521 polling stations.
Madhepura from where JD(U) President Sharad Yadav is contesting registered 48 per cent polling, Madhubani recorded 45 per cent, Jhanjharpur 45.5 per cent, Darbhanga 44 per cent, Samastipur 47 per cent, Begusarai 51 per cent and Khagaria 51.45 per cent till 3 PM, an Election Commission statement said in Patna.
Sharad Yadav cast his vote at the Adarsh Madhya Vidyalaya.
With the temperature crossing 42 degree Celsius, people, elderly persons and women, waited in queue before booths.
In Madhubani and Begusarai, a large number of burqa- clad women voters were seen outside booths.
In Darbhanga, a car in BJP candidate Kirti Azad's convoy was seized by the district administration in Benipur for not having requisite permission, police said.
A 104-year-old man was assisted by his family to a booth in Madhubani for casting his vote.
There were some reports of minor friction between electors and officials over missing names in voters lists.
A bypoll is also being held in Sahebpur Kamal Assembly seat following the resignation of former minister Parveen Amanullah's from the Nitish Kumar Cabinet.
Nearly 70 per cent, peaceful voting in Telangana's first poll
Nearly 70 per cent peaceful polling was recorded for 17 Lok Sabha seats and 119 state assembly seats in the first election in Telangana, which is set to born as India's 29th state on June 2.
Officials said the polling was 68 percent at 5 p.m. Those standing in queues at 6 p.m. will be allowed to vote, said chief electoral officer Bhanwarlal.
Barring minor incidents, balloting was on peacefully amid tight security at 30,574 polling booths across 10 districts of Telangana including Hyderabad.
While nine districts recorded heavy polling, the turnout was low in Hyderabad. Bhanwarlal said 53 percent votes were polled in the city. Highest turnout of 75 percent was recorded in Khammam district.
No incident was reported from any of the 10 Maoist affected assembly constituencies, he said. Polling in three of these constituencies ended at 4 p.m. and in the rest at 5 p.m.
Clashes between workers of rival parties were reported from Mahabubnagar and Ranga Reddy districts.
Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) candidate Mumtaz Ahmed Khan was arrested after a clash between MIM and Majlis Bachao Tehreek (MBT) activists in Yakutpura assembly constituency in the old city of Hyderabad.
In Gajwel assembly segment of Medak Lok Sabha constituency, police kept Telugu Desam Party (TDP) candidate Pratap Reddy under house arrest after a clash between TDP and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) activists. TRS chief K. Chandrasekara Rao is contesting for both Medak Lok Sabha and Gajwel assembly seats.
In Maharajgunj assembly constituency in Hyderabad, Congress candidate and former minister Mukesh Goud's son Vikram Goud allegedly attacked workers of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ally TDP.
Two people were injured in a clash between Congress and TRS supporters in Kollapur constituency in Mahabubnagar district.
A vehicle allegedly belonging to a Congress leader mysteriously caught fire in Suryapet in Nalgonda district. Bundles of currency notes of Rs.1,000 and 500 denominations, hidden in the engine, were found burnt. The driver escaped after the Innova vehicle caught fire.
The vehicle carried legislator sticker reportedly belonging to Telangana Congress committee's working president Uttam Kumar Reddy, who is seeking re-election from Huzurnagar assembly constituency.
The CEO said the vehicle was carrying Rs.2.5 crore cash. He, however, said the identity of the owner and other details would be known only after the driver is caught.
More than 28.17 million electors are eligible to exercise their franchise in the first election in Telangana since parliament passed a bill in February for separate statehood to the region.
As many as 265 candidates are in the fray for the Lok Sabha and 1,669 for the assembly constituencies.
Technical snag in electronic voting machines (EVMs) led to delay in start of the polling at some polling centres.
Bhanwarlal told reporters that some EVMs received from Electronic Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), Hyderabad were in factory mode and the polling staff was unable to use them.
He, however, said such EVMs were replaced in 20 minutes to half-an-hour as every district has 2,000 EVMs in reserve.
"There was a small technical snag in new EVMs. They are in factory mode and they have to be sent back to the factory but we have sufficient number of machines for immediate replacement," he said.
The election authorities are using 100,000 EVMs. The CEO said these were new machines which arrived two days ago from ECIL and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).
Director General of Police B. Prasada Rao said the polling was on in a peaceful manner. He said no untoward incident was reported from any part of Telangana.
The CEO said 150,000 security personnel including paramilitary forces were deployed as part of the massive security arrangements. Four helicopters were also kept ready for contingency.
Prominent among the contestants for Lok Sabha elections include union cabinet Minister S. Jaipal Reddy (Mahabubnagar), TRS chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao (Medak), his daughter K. Kavitha (Nizamabad), Lok Satta chief Jayaprakash Narayan (Malkajgiri) and Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi (Hyderabad).
As the state will be formally bifurcated in June, the Election Commission is conducting the polls in the undivided state.
The elected legislators will be allotted to the respective states after June 2.
J&K
Voters wait for their turn in Budgam, Jammu and Kashmir.
Balloting for the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat in Jammu and Kashmir began on Wednesday, officials said.
As many as 14 candidates are in the fray, including Farooq Abdullah of the National Conference.
Over 1.23 million voters are eligible to exercise their franchise at 1,546 polling booths.
Around 50 companies of central armed forces and over 10,000 police personnel have been deployed.
DAMAN AND DIU
Voting for the lone parliamentary constituency of Daman and Diu began on Wednesday, officials said.
Just four candidates are in the fray. Balloting is taking place at 119 polling stations.
As many as 102,260 electors are eligible to exercise their franchise in the union territory.
DADRA AND NAGAR HAVELI
Balloting for the lone Lok Sabha seat of Dadra and Nagar Haveli began on Wednesday, officials said.DADRA AND NAGAR HAVELI
As many as 11 candidates are in the fray.
A total of 188,783 people are eligible to vote at 163 polling booths across the union territory.
No comments:
Post a Comment