LIVE | 63% turnout in LS polls phase 4; Bengal tops with 76% amid violence
Polling was held in 96 constituencies across 9 states, 1 UT; 175 Assembly seats of Andhra Pradesh and 28 of Odisha also went to polls in this phase
A voter turnout of over 63 per cent was recorded in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections in 96 constituencies spread over nine states and one Union Territory amid incidents of violence in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal and reports of poll boycott in some villages of Uttar Pradesh.
There were also reports of malfunctioning of EVMs in some booths of West Bengal and Odisha.
The voting, which started at 7 am, continued till 6 pm. Jammu and Kashmir witnessed the lowest voting percentage with 36.58 per cent voters exercising their franchise, while West Bengal recorded the highest with 75.94 per cent.
Among other states, Andhra Pradesh recorded 68.12 per cent, Bihar 56.85 per cent, Jharkhand 63.37 per cent, Madhya Pradesh 71.72 per cent, Maharashtra 52.75 per cent, Odisha, 63.85 per cent, Telangana 61.39 per cent and Uttar Pradesh 57.88 per cent till last reports came in on Monday.
In the first three of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections, polling concluded in 283 seats out of 543.
For Monday, over 19 lakh polling officials were deployed at 1.92 lakh polling stations for over 17.70 crore eligible voters, including 8.73 crore women.
There were 1,717 candidates in the fray for the fourth phase of Lok Sabha polls.
Polling was held in all 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana, all 25 seats in Andhra Pradesh, 13 in Uttar Pradesh, five in Bihar, four in Jharkhand, eight in Madhya Pradesh, 11 in Maharashtra, four in Odisha, eight in West Bengal and one in Jammu and Kashmir.
Also, 175 Assembly seats of Andhra Pradesh and 28 Assembly seats of Odisha went to polls in this phase.
Live Updates
- 13 May 2024 3:24 PM IST
Voting in Maoist hotbed
Hundreds of voters from different villages fearlessly cast their votes — many for the first time — at Budha Pahad’s booth no. 420, a former Maoist hotbed under Palamu Lok Sabha constituency, on Monday.
Located along Jharkhand’s Latehar and Garhwa districts, Budha Pahad was freed recently from the red rebels’ control by security forces after over three decades.
Thirty-seven-year-old Halkan Kisan was one of them. Kisan cast his vote at booth no 420 in government’s upgraded middle school, Hesatu.
“I have exercised my vote at my own booth for the first time in my life. Earlier, our booth used to be relocated, around 13 km from my village, due to impact of the Maoist in the locality. Very few voters used to go to vote in relocated place. Now, the area has become free from Maoist activity and people are enthusiastically exercising their votes,” Kisan, a resident of Hesatu village under Bargarh block, told PTI.
Medininagar SDO Anurag Tiwary said voting at the polling station is being conducted amid deployment of heavy security. “The polling officials and security personals were air dropped on Sunday at Budha Pahad to conduct the polls,” Tiwary told PTI.
A total of 771 electors are eligible to exercise their votes at the booth. By 1 pm, the booth had registered 68 per cent polling.
Vikram Yadav, 50, another voter, told PTI, “I have given my vote without any trouble. I came to the booth walking around 5 km from my village Saurat and I found no security issue even on the way as there are deployment of security forces.”
Block programming officer, Bargarh, Md Hashim Ansari told PTI, “Several arrangements have been made for voters such as shed, drinking water and ambulance. Besides, vehicles have also been arranged for the elderly and physically challenged voters.”
Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) K Ravi Kumar has visited booth no 420 along with senior police officers on April 20. Kumar had then said voters would exercise their franchise for the first time at their places after many decades. He gave credit to security forces for making this place terror-free.
However, excluding booth no 420, other three booths in Budha Pahad have been relocated due to security reasons, a senior official said.
The exercise to free Budha Pahad from left-wing extremists was carried out through three special operations that were launched since the beginning of April 2022. A total of 14 Maoists were killed, while 590 others were either apprehended or had surrendered during these operations, the officials said.
- 13 May 2024 2:35 PM IST
BJP alleges violence by YSRCP workers
The BJP has accused the ruling YSRCP in Andhra Pradesh of unleashing “unprecedented violence” to target NDA workers and sought the Election Commission’s intervention.
The party wrote to the poll body even as voting for the Assembly and Lok Sabha was being held in the state. It claimed that police were acting as mute spectators and not ensuring free and fair elections.
The Election Commission’s aim has been to increase the poll percentage but it has been negated by the police indifference and inaction of district election officers, BJP general secretary Arun Singh, who is his party's in-charge for the polls in the state, said.
Large queues could be seen before every polling station and people are made to wait two to three hours minimum to exercise their franchise, he said.
The BJP in its complaint has cited many instances across several districts to allege violence and even booth capturing by YSR Congress workers.
