LIVE | Phase 3 of Lok Sabha polls records 61.78% voter turnout

Four LS seats in Assam register voter turnout of 45.88% till 1 pm

The four Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam, where polling was underway on Tuesday in the third phase, recorded a voter turnout of 45.88 per cent till 1 pm, officials said Dhubri recorded the highest turnout of 47.73 per cent, followed by Barpeta at 46.83 percent, Kokrajhar at 46.43 per cent, and Guwahati at 42.13 per cent.

Polling began at 7 am and will continue till 5 pm.

A total of 81,49,091 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise to decide the electoral fate of 47 candidates in the third and final phase of polling in Assam.

In Guwahati, BJP candidate Bijuli Kalita Medhi and Congress's Mira Borthakur Goswami cast their votes in the early hours. Incumbent MP Queen Oja also cast her vote.

Kokrajhar's Congress candidate Garjen Mushahary and BPF's Kampa Borgyary also exercised their franchise.

State ministers Ranjit Dass and Jayanta Malla Baruah along with Rajya Sabha MP Rwngwra Narzary also cast their votes.

Maharashtra: 31.55% turnout till 1 pm; Pawars among early voters

A voter turnout of 31.55 per cent was recorded till 1 pm in 11 of the 48 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra, where polling is underway in the third phase of the general elections on Tuesday, election authorities said.

As per data shared by the authorities, Latur registered 32.71 per cent polling, Sangli 29.65 per cent, Baramati 27.55 per cent, Hathkanangale 36.17 per cent, Kolhapur 38.42 per cent, Madha 26.61 per cent, Osmanabad 30.54 per cent, Raigad 31.34 per cent, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg 33.91 per cent, Satara 32.78 per cent and Solapur 29.32 per cent.

Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, his wife Sunetra Pawar, the NCP candidate from Baramati, and his mother Asha Pawar were among the early voters.

They cast their votes at a polling booth in the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency in Pune district, where Sunetra is pitted against her sister-in-law Supriya Sule, the sitting MP from Baramati.

NCP (SP) head Sharad Pawar, his wife Pratibha Pawar, daughter Supriya Sule and her family, MLA Rohit Pawar and his family also voted in Baramati.

Actor-couple Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia Deshmukh cast their votes in Latur, while Union minister Narayan Rane voted in Sindhudurg.

Ritesh Deshmukh is the son of Congress leader and former state chief minister late Vilasrao Deshmukh.

Rane is the BJP candidate from the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg seat.

Voting began at 7 am across the 11 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

Some prominent contestants include royal scions Shahu Chhatrapati of the Congress in Kolhapur and BJP's Udayanraje Bhosale in Satara.

A total of 2.09 crore persons are eligible to vote for 258 candidates in the third phase, an official said.

As many as 23,036 polling centres have been set up in the state, he said.

There are 1,07,64,741 male voters, 1,02,26,946 female voters and 929 from the third gender, the official said. 

Bihar: 36.69% turnout recorded in 5 LS seats till 1 pm

Around 36.69 per cent of over 98 lakh voters exercised their franchise in five Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar till 1 pm on Tuesday, an election official said.

Voting in 9,848 polling stations in Araria, Jhanjharpur, Supaul, Madhepura and Khagaria seats, all currently held by the NDA, began at 7 am amid tight security and will continue till 6 pm, he said.

Supaul recorded the highest turnout of 38.58 per cent, followed by Araria (37.09), Madhepura (36.84), Khagaria (36.02) and Jhanjharpur (34.94) till 1 pm.

The electoral fate of 54 candidates will be decided by 98,60,397 voters in the third phase of polling in Bihar.

Talking to reporters in Patna, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary said, "I urge people to exercise their franchise in large numbers. People must vote for the overall development of the country as well as the state under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi." Echoing a similar view, Vijay Kumar Sinha, another deputy chief minister of the state, said in Patna, "People must vote for the NDA to protect the country from the divisive forces and those indulging in politics of appeasement." Chirag Paswan, chief of Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), an alliance partner of the NDA, cast his vote at a polling booth in Khagaria.

He appealed to people to exercise their franchise to make the country developed and prosperous.

Manoj Jha, RJD's Rajya Sabha MP, said, "People must cast their votes... this is a crucial election to protect the Constitution and reservations and also give employment to youth."

44.61% polling till 1 pm in 9 LS seats of Madhya Pradesh

A voter turnout of 44.61 per cent was recorded till 1 pm in nine Lok Sabha seats of Madhya Pradesh in the third phase of the general elections on Tuesday, a poll official said.

Former chief ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Digvijaya Singh and state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president V D Sharma were among the early voters.

Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who are contesting the polls from Rajgarh and Guna, respectively, will not be able to vote for themselves as the former is a registered voter of Bhopal, and the latter is registered to vote from Gwalior, party sources said.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the BJP candidate from Vidisha seat, exercised franchise with his wife, Sadhna Singh, and two sons at a polling booth in his native village, Jait, in Sehore district.

Polling began at 7 am and will conclude at 6 pm across 20,456 polling stations, including 1,043 managed by women personnel and 75 by Divyang employees, an election official said.

Of the nine Lok Sabha seats, Betul recorded 48.26 per cent voting, Bhind 37.37 per cent, Bhopal 40.41 per cent, Guna 49.93 per cent, Gwalior 41.18 per cent, Morena 39.24 per cent, Rajgarh 52.60 per cent, Sagar 44.32 per cent and Vidisha 50.46 per cent, the official said.

In order to ensure smooth conduct of the election process, the administration made the local candidates sit in the police control room in Morena in the Gwalior-Chambal region, which is considered a sensitive area.

The police made BJP candidate Shivmangal Singh Tomar, BSP's Ramesh Chandra Garg and Congress candidate Satyapal Sikarwar sit in the police control room, Superintendent of Police Shailendra Singh Chouhan said. The candidates came to the police control room with their consent and sat together, as it has happened here in the past, he said.

A total of 1.77 crore voters will decide the fate of 127 candidates who are contesting from Morena, Bhind (SC-reserved), Gwalior, Guna, Sagar, Vidisha, Bhopal, Rajgarh and Betul (ST-reserved) seats spread across 19 districts of the state. Polling in Betul (ST) constituency was initially scheduled to be held in the second phase on April 26 but was deferred due to the death of a candidate.

In all, 127 candidates, including nine women, are in the fray in the third phase of the elections.

Bhopal has the highest number of 22 candidates, while Bhind has the lowest at 7.

Voters include 92.68 lakh men, 84.83 lakh women, and 491 members of the third gender, while 1.66 lakh voters are 'divyangjan' (people with disabilities), 88,106 are above the age of 85, and 1,804 are 100 plus years old, the poll official said.

As many as 5.25 lakh voters are in the age group of 18-19 years.

Of the 29 Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh, polling for 12 seats took place in the first two phases on April 19 and 26. The remaining eight seats will go to polls in the fourth phase on May 13.

37.83% polling recorded till 1 pm in 25 LS seats of Gujarat; PM Modi, Shah among voters

A woman ties 'rakhi' to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he meets people after casting his vote at a polling station during the third phase of Lok Sabha elections, in Ahmedabad. Photo: PTI

A voter turnout of 37.83 per cent was recorded till 1 pm in 25 Lok Sabha seats of Gujarat in the third phase of the general elections on Tuesday, an Election Commission (EC) official said.

As many as 265 candidates are in the fray for 25 out of 26 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bagged the Surat seat unopposed after eight out of nine eligible candidates withdrew their nomination forms. BJP candidate Mukesh Dalal was declared the winner.

"An average 37.83 per cent voter turnout was recorded between 7 am and 1 pm in Gujarat," the official said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Chief Electoral Officer for Gujarat, P Bharathi were among the early voters.

While PM Modi cast his vote at Nishan School in the Ranip area of the city, Shah exercised his franchise at a polling booth in the Naranpura area, both of which fall under the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat, which Shah is seeking to retain.

As per the data shared by the EC, the Banaskantha constituency in north Gujarat recorded the highest turnout of 45.89 per cent, while the Porbandar seat in the Saurashtra region saw the lowest turnout of 30.80 per cent between 7 am and 1 pm.

Voters turned up in large numbers at the polling booths in the early hours, as long serpentine queues could be seen outside several booths.

Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, industrialist Gautam Adani and spiritual leader Morari Bapu were among personalities from different fields who cast their votes in the state.

According to poll officials, the state has 4.97 crore voters, including 2.56 crore males, 2.41 crore females and 1,534 persons from the third gender.

Of the 50,788 polling booths, 17,275 are in the urban areas and 33,513 in rural parts of the state, they said.

Voting is also being held for the bypolls for five state assembly seats of Khambhat, Vijapur, Waghodia, Porbandar, and Manavadar.

The Congress is fighting the Lok Sabha polls in alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), hoping to prevent a division of opposition votes to stop the BJP from repeating its winning streak of 2014 and 2019.

As part of the alliance, the Congress, which has fielded four sitting and eight former MLAs, got 24 seats (including Surat), while the AAP has been given Bhavnagar and Bharuch.

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39.92% voter turnout till 1pm

Assam - 45.88%

Bihar - 36.69%

Chhattisgarh - 46.14%

Dadra & Nagar Haveli And Daman & Diu - 39.94%

Goa - 49.04%

Gujarat - 37.83%

Karnataka - 41.59%

Madhya Pradesh - 44.67%

Maharashtra - 31.55%

Uttar Pradesh - 38.12%

West Bengal - 49.27%