New Delhi: Incidents of violence in West Bengal and Odisha that left a Congress worker dead and EVM glitches were reported in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha polls on Monday which saw 64 per cent turnout in 72 seats across nine states.
The stakes are high for the BJP which had won 56 of these 72 constituencies in the 2014 polls.
About 12.79 crore people were eligible for voting in the fourth phase. With this round, polling has been completed in 374 seats out of 543.
According to a senior police officer, violence was reported from several places in six parliamentary seats in Odisha, where the turnout was 64.05 per cent.
A Congress worker was stabbed to death in Balikuda-Erasama area of Jagatsinghpur seat while he was returning from a polling booth.
The victim, Lachman Behera, had recently quit the BJD to join the Congress, the official said.
Clashes between supporters of the ruling BJD and the BJP were reported from Jajpur Kendrapara and Balasore Lok Sabha seats amid allegations poll rigging. Technical glitches in EVMs delayed polling in 60 booths, but it resumed after the snags were rectified.
During a mock-poll in Madhya Pradesh, electronic voting machines (EVMs) were replaced at 207 polling booths as some glitches were found. EVMs were also replaced at 106 polling booths after the voting began, according to officials.
Polling was peaceful in Rajasthan, with tribal dominated seat of Banswara recording the highest voting percentage at 72.34, followed by Barmer which recorded 72.21 per cent voting, according to state election officials.
Nearly 55.86 per cent voting was recorded in Maharashtra (17 seats), 59.02 per cent Bihar (five seats) and 64.38 per cent Jharkhand (3 seats), according to data provided by the Election Commission.
In Kulgam district of Anantnag constituency in Jammu and Kashmir, 10.5 per cent polling was recorded, amid isolated incidents of stone pelting. This was the second of the three-phase polling in the sensitive seat.
Billionaires and Bollywood stars lined up outside polling stations along with the common folks in Mumbai.
