LIVE | Phase 3 of Lok Sabha polls records 61.78% voter turnout
Chhattisgarh: 66.87% voting recorded till 5 pm in 7 LS seats
A voter turnout of 66.87 per cent was recorded till 5 pm in seven out of the 11 Lok Sabha constituencies in Chhattisgarh, where polling was held in the third and last phase of the general elections in the state on Tuesday, a poll official said.
Polling was held between 7 am and 6 pm in seven seats - Raipur, Durg, Bilaspur, Korba, Janjgir-Champa (reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates), Surguja (reserved for Scheduled Tribe candidates) and Raigarh (ST).
"A voter turnout of 66.87 per cent has been registered till 5 pm," the official said.
58.19% polling in Chhattisgarh till 3 pm
A voter turnout of 58.19 per cent was recorded till 3 pm in seven of the 11 Lok Sabha constituencies in Chhattisgarh, where polling was underway in the third and last phase of the general elections in the state on Tuesday, a poll official said.
Polling is being held in Raipur, Durg, Bilaspur, Korba, Janjgir-Champa (reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates), Surguja (reserved for Scheduled Tribe candidates) and Raigarh (ST) seats.
"Polling in the seven Lok Sabha constituencies started at 7 am, and a voter turnout of 58.19 per cent has been registered till 3 pm. Polling is underway smoothly and peacefully," the official said.
Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai and his family members voted in Bagia, their native village in Jashpur district in the Raigarh Lok Sabha constituency.
Talking to reporters, Sai appealed to voters to exercise their voting rights, and exuded confidence that the BJP will win all 11 Lok Sabha seats of the state.
"The feedback of polling in the first two phases for four Lok Sabha seats, the huge response of people during public rallies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president J P Nadda and other leaders, and the impact of works done in the 10 years of Modi government and three months of our government in Chhattisgarh, clearly indicate that we are going to win all 11 seats in the state," he said.
61% voting till 3 pm in two Lok Sabha seats in Goa
A voter turnout of 61 per cent was witnessed in the two Lok Sabha constituencies in Goa till 3 pm in the third phase of the general elections on Tuesday, officials said.
As per data shared by the election authorities, 61.28 per cent of voters exercised their franchise in North Goa, while 61.5 per cent turnout was recorded in South Goa.
Polling at 1,725 centres, 863 in North Goa and 862 in South Goa, began at 7 am.
The early voters included Pallavi Dempo (BJP, South Goa), Viariato Fernandes (Congress, South Goa), Rubert Pereira (RGP, South Goa), Shripad Naik (BJP, North Goa), Ramakant Khalif (Congress, North Goa) and Manoj Parab (RGP, North Goa).
While there were no queues outside polling stations in the first few hours, voters started stepping out later in the day.
Talking to PTI, Goa assembly Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar said his assembly constituency of Canacona will record more than 80 per cent turnout, and more votes would mean an advantage for the BJP.
State Social Welfare Minister Subhash Phal Desai said voters had come out in large numbers to vote for the BJP and claimed that a booth in his Sanguem assembly constituency recorded 100 per cent voting till 3 pm.
Congress leader Girish Chodankar, however, refused to concede that it is an advantage for the BJP, citing that more voter turnout meant that people voted against the establishment.
More than 11 lakh voters were eligible to exercise their franchise for elections to the two Lok Sabha seats in Goa.
In North Goa, the Congress has fielded Ramakant Khalap against sitting MP Shripad Naik of the BJP, while in Sout Goa, entrepreneur Pallavi Dempo is taking on Navy veteran Viriato Fernandes of the Congress.
The South Goa Lok Sabha seat is currently held by Congress' Francisco Sardinha.
A total of 16 candidates, eight were in the fray in North and South Goa Lok Sabha constituencies each
BJP workers trying to loot booths in Mainpuri, alleges SP chief Akhilesh Yadav
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday alleged that the BJP workers were trying to loot booths in the state's Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency and detaining people from opposition parties in police stations.
"In Mainpuri, BJP people are trying to loot booths. They are detaining opposition people in police stations," Yadav said without giving details.
The Lok Sabha seat went to polls in the third round of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections on Tuesday.
Yadav, who cast his vote in Saifai (Etawah) for Mainpuri constituency where his wife and sitting MP Dimple Yadav is in the fray, also claimed that there is a power tussle going on within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and, therefore, its leaders give statements for "self-appeasement".
He also alleged rigging of votes at some places and said, "Information is coming from some places that the government is using force. It is heard that officers have been deployed outside polling booths." The former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh said the BJP government could not give minimum support price to the farmers and more than a thousand farmers lost their lives in the agitation against "the three black farm laws".
He also indirectly referred to the Lakhimpur Kheri violence in 2021, in which four farmers were allegedly run over by a car in which Union Minister Ajay Kumar Mishra's son Ashish Mishra was seated, and said, "These people ran their cars over farmers. Since 2014, when the BJP government came to power, one lakh farmers committed suicide in the country." Yadav raised questions on elections being held in the scorching heat and said this is being done to deliberately trouble people.
He, however, appealed to voters to come out in big numbers and cast their ballots.
"This is the vote that can change our lives. It is this vote that will strengthen the Constitution and democracy. The more votes we have, the stronger our democracy will be," the SP chief said.
Meanwhile, SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav, who also cast his vote in Saifai, alleged that the BJP will change the Constitution if they return to power.
"BJP has also prepared a new constitution. When someone gets absolute power he heads towards dictatorship," he said.
On Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's statement that the current Lok Sabha election is an election between 'Ram Bhakts' and 'Ramdrohi', Ram Gopal Yadav said, "When one gets intoxicated with power, a person starts talking about anything. That's what our Chief Minister is doing".
The fight in this Lok Sabha election is to save the country, he said, adding that Dimple Yadav will win the Mainpuri seat with five lakh votes.
50.71 per cent voter turnout till 3 pm
Assam – 63.08%
Bihar – 46.69%
Chhattisgarh – 58.19%
Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu – 52.43%
Goa – 61.39%
Gujarat – 47.03%
Karnataka – 54.20%
Madhya Pradesh – 54.09%
Maharashtra – 42.63%
Uttar Pradesh – 46.78%
West Bengal – 63.11%