Elections 2014 third phase: High turnout in 91 seats; Chandigarh tops with 74 per cent
New Delhi: High voter turnout was recorded in the 91 constituencies in 14 states and Union Territories, which went to polls in the third and substantial phase of Lok Sabha elections, with Chandigarh witnessing the highest percentage of 74.
The voter turnout this time was substantially higher over the last Lok Sabha elections in all the constituencies.
Parts of sprawling Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Haryana, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra states were among the places holding balloting on Thursday.
Hours before the voting began, Maoist insurgents blew up a jeep carrying paramilitary soldiers, killing two and wounding three others and causing a suspension in voting in some parts of eastern Bihar state, police said.
Delhi surpassed 2009 polling percentage, recorded 64 per cent voter turnout:
Bypassing 2009 turnout by an impressive 12 per cent, the national capital recorded around 64 per cent polling in the mega-battle for seven Lok Sabha seats where a faction-ridden BJP tried to sail on 'Modi wave' while AAP and Congress attempted to regain lost ground.
Delhi Election Commission officials said 64 per cent of 1.27 crore eligible voters exercised their franchise till 6 PM and the polling percentage may go up slightly as some people were still in queue in various areas even after the deadline for voting ended.
In 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the overall voting percentage was recorded at 52.3 per cent, which had increased to 66 per cent in the 2013 Delhi assembly election in December last year.
The highest voter turnout of 71.3 in Delhi was recorded in the Lok Sabha poll held after the Emergency was lifted in 1977.
The high-octane campaign for the polls saw BJP, AAP and Congress engaging in a close fight to win the seven seats -- considered prestigious due to political symbolism.
The prominent contenders in the fray include Union Ministers Kapil Sibal and Krishna Tirath, Delhi BJP chief Harsh Vardhan, Congress' Ajay Maken, Sandeep Dikshit, Rajmohan Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, journalist-turned-politician Ashutosh and BJP's Meenakshi Lekhi.
Vice President Hamid Ansari, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal were among the early voters.
Congress has also tried to regain its support base through a series of initiatives in the last four months following its crushing defeat in the assembly polls in which it got just eight seats in the 70-member House.
All the three key players BJP, Congress and AAP claimed they will win all the seven seats. Congress had won all the seven seats in 2009 while BJP had drawn a blank.
AAP scored a stunning upset in the New Delhi election, launching Kejriwal to the national stage. The party is contesting nearly 400 parliamentary seats.
In Kerala voter turnout was 74 per cent:
But in many places, voters were queuing up after the 6 pm deadline, as a result of which the final polling percentage is expected to be slightly higher.
Polling started on a brisk note under clear weather, which saw half the electorate casting their votes by noon, but slowed down in the afternoon. Some parts of the state, including the capital city and suburbs experienced summer showers in the afternoon.
Polling was by and large peaceful, barring a minor clash between IUML and CPI(M) activists at Thalora in Thaliparamba assembly segment under Kannur Parliamentary constituency, which left three persons injured.
In 2009 Lok Sabha polls, Kerala recorded a turnout of 73.37 per cent which was slightly higer than 71.45 in 2004.
Two persons collapsed and died while standing in the queue and another two while returning home after casting votes in four different constituencies.
Candidates whose fate had been sealed included six Union ministers - Shashi Tharoor, K V Thomas, Kodikunnil Suresh, K C Venugopal and Mullapally Ramachandran (all Congress) and E Ahamed of Indian Union Muslim League.
Prominent LDF candidates in the fray are CPI (M) polit bureau member M A Baby and four sitting MPs of the party – A Sampath, M B Rajesh, P K Biju and P Karunakaran.
Other notable contestants are P C Chacko of Congress, SJD leader M P Veerendrakumar (UDF), former Union minister O Rajagopal (BJP) and film actor Innocent (LDF-independent).
Noted novelist and activist Sarah Joseph and journalist Anita Pratap are prominent AAP contestants.
In 2009, UDF sent 16 MPs, 13 of them from Congress, two from IUML and one from the Kerala Congress (M).
This time Congress has fielded 15 candidates, leaving two seats to IUML and one each to Kerala Congress (M), SJD and RSP, which joined UDF just a month back, snapping its long partnership with the LDF.
In LDF, the CPI (M) fielded 10 party candidates and extended support to five independents, alloting four seats to CPI and one to JD(S).
BJP has put up candidates in all 20 seats along with minor allies and turned the battle into three-cornered contest in Thiruvananthapuram and Kasargod.
Counting of votes will be taken up on May 16.
Polling peaceful in Muzaffarnagar, riot victims cast vote:
Nearly 65 per cent voting was today recorded in 10 Lok Sabha constituencies of western Uttar Pradesh including riot-hit Muzaffarnagar, polling for which passed off peacefully.
The voting percentage saw a 14 per cent rise from 51.30 per cent in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. It was 61.78 per cent in the 2012 Assembly polls.
As many as 68.27 per cent of the electorate including hundreds of riots victims exercised there franchise in Muzaffarnagar.
More than 250 people, who were displaced in last year's deadly communal riots in the district, exercised their franchise at Khampur village where they are now living in a newly constructed housing colony.
They were displaced from Lisad, Kutba Kutbi, Rathora and Phugana villages following the riots in September last year that left over 60 dead. Four gangrape victims also cast their votes and were given full police protection, District Magistrate Koshal Raj Sharma told PTI.
He said polling was peaceful with about 50 per cent vote turnout till 2 PM. He said that riot victims have voted in villages of Kutba, Phugana and Jollaloee and other places and were provided complete protection.
"No untoward incident has been reported in the district," the DM said.
In riot-hit Muzaffarnagar, the votes are clearly polarised, with the majority chunk of the Jat community veering towards the BJP while a large chunk of the minority vote is tilting to the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party.
The BJP, led by prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, appears to have an edge in 10 Lok Sabha berths in western Uttar Pradesh. The BJP’s UP in-charge, Amit Shah, a close aide of Mr Modi, has been accused of trying to polarise the Uttar Pradesh votebank as he exhorted the Jats to “vote for revenge”.
Low voter turnout in Chhattisgarh, 1 police personnel injured in Naxal attack:
A low 52 per cent turnout was recorded in the Naxal-hit Bastar Lok Sabha constituency of Chhattisgarh, where a police personnel was injured in an attack by the rebels, and explosives were recovered from a few places.
Naxals, who had called for boycott of the election, ambushed a police team which was escorting polling officials on their return after conclusion of polling in Gadiras police station limits of Sukma district. A police constable was injured in the attack, Additional Superintendent of Police Neeraj Chandrakar said.
Bastar was the only constituency in the tribal-dominated state that went to polls today.
"Around 52 per cent of electorate exercised the franchise," state's Chief Electoral Officer Sunil Kujur said.
Meanwhie, in Chandigarh, which is witnessing a three-way battle with actors Kirron Kher and Gul Panag taking on former minister and sitting MP Pawan Kumar Bansal of the Congress, the voter turnout was almost 74 per cent, said the Election Commission.
Jammu and Kashmir, which voted for one parliamentary seat, saw an outstanding jump of 17 per cent from last time with 66.29 per cent polling, the Election Commission said this evening.
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Madhya Pradesh recorded just 46.55 per cent voter turn out till 4:30 pm.
While in the 10 seats of Maharashtra where polling was held, about 54 per cent voters had turned up by 5 pm.
Haryana, where all 10 Lok Sabha polls went to polls recorded 42.77 per cent till 3 pm. Uttar Pradesh, where polling was held in 10 Lok Sabha seats, recorded 44.74 per cent.
Odisha recorded a total of 42.38 per cent polling till 3 pm. Lakshadweep witnessed 41.39 per cent till 3 pm, while Jharkhand recorded 38.91 per cent till that time, according to officials.
Nearly 45 per cent voters exercised their franchise in Bihar even after two troopers headed for poll duty were killed in a landmine blast.
Of the 92 seats going to the polls, seven are in Delhi, 10 in Uttar Pradesh, 10 in Maharashtra, five in Jharkhand, nine in Madhya Pradesh, 20 in Kerala, six in Bihar, 10 in Haryana, 10 in Odisha, and one each in Chandigarh, Goa, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep and the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir.
