Lok Sabha elections: Phase 3 voter turnout climbs to 65.68%

The updated approximate voter turnout figures for polling in the third phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections stands at 65.68 per cent, the Election Commission said on Wednesday (May 8).

The figures were retrieved at 10 pm on Wednesday, it said.

The figures will continue to be updated by the field level officers, the poll panel said.

Voting for the third phase was held on Tuesday in 93 constituencies spread over 11 states and Union Territories with stray incidents of violence.

Karnataka 71.84%

Karnataka recorded 71.84 per cent voter turnout in the 14 constituencies in the second phase.

According to poll officials, of the 14 segments that went to polls on May 7, the highest turnout of 78.66 per cent was recorded in Chikkodi, followed by 78.33 per cent in Shimoga, and least 62.25 per cent in Gulbarga.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the same 14 segments in the first phase had recorded a turnout of 68.43 per cent.

The total voter turnout in Karnataka in the two phases in this Lok Sabha polls is 70.64 per cent.

Bengal 77.53%

In West Bengal, 77.53 per cent of 73.37 lakh voters exercised their franchise in the four Lok Sabha seats in the third phase.

Murshidabad recorded the highest voter turnout of 81.52 per cent, Maldaha Dakshin (76.69 per cent), Maldaha Uttar (76.03 per cent) and Jangipur (75.72 per cent), the official said.

The voter turnout in Tuesday’s Bhawanbangola Assembly bypoll was 80.07 per cent.

Gujarat 60.13%

Gujarat recorded a voter turnout of 60.13 per cent in the elections to 25 Lok Sabha seats, as per the final data shared by the Election Commission on Wednesday, registering a nearly 4 per cent drop from the 2019 figure.

This time, the voter turnout was 3.98 per cent lower than the 2019 general polls in the state. In 2019, Gujarat had registered a voter participation of 64.11 per cent in polls to its 26 Lok Sabha seats.

The tribal-reserved Valsad constituency in south Gujarat recorded the highest turnout of 72.71 per cent, while the Amreli seat in the Saurashtra region saw the lowest voter participation of 50.29 per cent, as per the poll panel data.

The data suggests that Valsad was the only seat where more than 70 per cent of the registered electors turned up to exercise their franchise. Valsad was on the top spot in 2019 also with an impressive turnout of 75.22 per cent.

Bharuch and Banaskantha seats, which witnessed a close battle between the ruling BJP and the opposition INDIA alliance, recorded 69.16 per cent and 69.62 per cent polling, respectively.

Except for Valsad, voter turnout in three other ST-reserved seats — Chhota Udaipur, Dahod and Bardoli — saw a significant drop this time compared to the previous election.

As against 73.44 per cent voter turnout in 2019, Chhota Udaipur this time recorded 69.15 per cent voting, a drop of 4.29 per cent. Dahod witnessed a voter turnout of 59.31 per cent compared to 66.18 per cent in 2019, a dip of 6.87 per cent.

The Bardoli seat recorded a drop of 8.77 per cent, as the voter turnout this time was 64.81 per cent compared to 73.58 per cent five years ago.

Repoll in Bihar

In Bihar, repoll has been ordered at two polling stations in Khagaria Lok Sabha constituency where voting was disrupted on account of vandalization of EVMs, the Election Commission said on Wednesday.

According to a statement issued by the office of Chief Electoral Officer, Bihar, polling will take place on May 10 at booth numbers 182 and 183, under Beldaur assembly segment.

On polling day, a group of unruly persons stormed the two booths and damaged the Electronic Voting Machines.

Assam 81.56%

In Assam, 81.56 per cent of the 2.45 crore voters of 14 constituencies registered their franchise in the total three phases of the Lok Sabha elections, election officials have said.

In the 2019 parliamentary polls, the state recorded an overall voter turnout of 81.55 per cent.

Women voters registered a marginally higher turnout of 81.71 per cent this year, as against 81.42 per cent of the male electorate. An 18.81 per cent of the third-gender voters also exercised their voting rights.

The three-phase elections concluded on Tuesday.

In the first phase of polls held on April 19, 78.25 per cent of the voters exercised their franchise to decide the political fate of 35 candidates for the Kaziranga, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Sonitpur and Lakhimpur constituencies.

In the second phase on April 26, 81.17 per cent of the electorate cast their votes to choose their representative for Karimganj, Silchar(SC), Diphu (ST), Nagaon and Darrang-Udalguri from among 61 candidates.

The turnout was 85.45 per cent in the third and final phase on May 7 when voters of Dhubri, Barpeta, Kokrajhar (ST) and Guwahati seats exercised their franchise. There were 47 candidates in this phase.

(With agency inputs)