Election LIVE | First phase records 62% voter turnout; violence, EVM glitches affect voting
Among the voters were first-timers, many newly-wed couples who came in their traditional attires, physically-challenged people and some elderly persons carried on stretchers and wheelchairs
An aggregate 62.37 per cent voter turnout was recorded in phase one of the Lok Sabha polls on Friday, the Election Commission (EC) said.
While the figures were issued after the conclusion of polls, the commission said people who were in the queue when voting ended at 6 pm were allowed to exercise their franchise.
"The voting percentage is likely to go upwards when reports from all polling stations are obtained as polling is scheduled till 6 pm in many constituencies. Final figures will be known on Saturday after the scrutiny of form 17A," the EC said.
Polling took place in 102 constituencies across 21 states and Union Territories in the first of the seven-phase elections.The commission described the turnout as "high", noting that voting remained "largely peaceful".
In the first phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the voter turnout was recorded at 69.43 per cent.
Minor EVM glitches were reported at some booths in Tamil Nadu, Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Assam.
Polling began at 7 am and wrapped up at 6 PM. Election officials said the turnout in West Bengal was 66.34 per cent till 3 pm and Meghalaya 62 per cent while six districts of eastern Nagaland wore a deserted look as people stayed indoors following an indefinite shutdown call by an apex body of tribal organisations to press for its demand for a separate state.
Violence in Bengal, Manipur, Chhattisgarh
In West Bengal, polling was marred by violence in the Cooch Behar seat. TMC and BJP workers clashed with each other and lodged 80 and 39 complaints respectively related to poll violence, voter intimidation, and assault on poll agents, sources from both parties said.
Polling was conducted in the Cooch Behar, Alipurdar and Jalpaigudi seats of the state.
The BJP alleged that TMC workers injured its booth president by throwing stones at him at the Chandramari area of Cooch Behar. The party also alleged that its workers were attacked in Natabari. The TMC has accused Union minister Nisith Pramanik of inciting violence in the state by keeping weapons in his office.
In strife-torn Manipur, around 45.68 per cent polling was recorded.
An altercation broke out between locals and unidentified persons in Thongju assembly constituency under the Inner Manipur Lok Sabha seat.
High turnout in Phase 1 of Lok Sabha elections 2024. Despite the heat wave polling remains largely peaceful across 21 States/UTs, says Election Commission (EC)
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday called the BJP the "biggest liar in the universe" while addressing an election rally in western Uttar Pradesh.
The identity that the BJP has created for itself in the region in the last 10 years is that of "loot and lies", Yadav said.
"Perhaps no political party has uttered as many lies as the BJP. In the whole universe, it is the BJP which is the biggest liar," the SP president said.
Yadav also claimed that the BJP would be "eliminated" from the region in the first phase of polls, voting for which was underway on Friday.
"It feels like this time the wind from the west is going to eliminate the BJP completely. And it looks like the BJP'S first show has flopped," Yadav said, referring to the first phase of polls in eight constituencies of western Uttar Pradesh.
"Not only that, the public also does not want to listen to their often repeated dialogues. The story they were concocting till now, nobody wants to listen to that too," he claimed.
The SP president was addressing the rally, held in the Sikandrabad area of Bulandshahr district, in support of Gautam Buddh Nagar candidate Mahendra Singh Nagar. The Sikandrabad and Khurja areas of Bulandshahr come under the Gautam Buddh Nagar Lok Sabha constituency.
An elderly voter in Uttarakhand's Haridwar on Friday threw an electronic voting machine (EVM) on the ground, demanding voting take place through ballot paper, police said.
The EVM was a bit damaged but it was not replaced as it continued to function, they said.
Randhir, 70, was taken into custody after information was received about the incident at booth number 126 of the Jwalapur Inter College polling station, police said.
He picked up the EVM when his turn to vote came and threw it on the ground, shouting that he opposes EVMs and elections should be conducted through ballot paper only, they said and added it is suspected that the man is mentally ill. Randhir was released after a few hours of detention, Jwalapur Deputy Superintendent of Police Shantanu Parashar said and added that EVM, though damaged, kept functioning and polling took place.
No complaint was lodged with police by polling officials against Randhir, he said A person present in the booth said Randhir picked up the EVM and threw it, leaving polling officials and people stunned.
An estimated 65 per cent of the total 16.23 lakh registered voters cast their ballot by 5 pm on Friday in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections in Udhampur, officials said, as Jammu and Kashmir witnessed an incident-free polling in what was its first major electoral battle since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
Voting began at 7 am at 2,637 polling stations across the constituency and was scheduled to end at 6 pm, they said, adding there are 12 candidates in the fray.
The voting percentage will go up, with officials saying that compiling data from some polling stations takes time.
Union minister Jitendra Singh, who is eyeing a third term after winning the Udhampur seat for the BJP in 2014 and 2019, is up against Congress leader and former MP Choudhary Lal Singh and the DPAP's G M Saroori, besides six independents.
This is the first major electoral battle in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 and the division of the erstwhile state into two Union territories in 2019.
A 28-year-old security personnel on election duty in Mizoram died due to cardiac arrest on Friday, officials said.
Lalrinpuia, who was in the second Indian Reserve Battalion (IRBn), was found dead on Friday morning at Vangchhia polling station in Champhai district when other security personnel tried to wake him up, they said.
He died due to cardiac arrest around 4.45 am, the officials said.
His body was sent to his native Kawlkulh village in Khawzawl district after an autopsy at Champhai district hospital, they said.
Champhai Deputy Commissioner and District Election Officer James Lalrinchhana and Champhai Superintendent of Police (SP) Vineet Kumar were present during the send-off ceremony.
James expressed his condolences to the family of the deceased and said that state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Madhup Vyas was informed about the incident.
An ex-gratia amount permissible for a person who dies on poll duty will be given to the next of kin of the deceased at the earliest, James added.