LIVE | Phase 3 of Lok Sabha polls records 61.78% voter turnout
The highest polling was recorded in Assam (75.30 per cent) while Maharashtra at 55.21 per cent accounted for the lowest voter turnout
The third phase of polls to 93 Lok Sabha constituencies across 11 states and Union territories on Tuesday (May 7) recorded a voter turnout of 61.78 per cent.
The maximum polling was witnessed in Assam which logged a voter turnout of 75.30 per cent, followed by Goa (74.47 per cent) and West Bengal (73.93 per cent). Maharashtra recorded the lowest at 55.21 per cent, according to Election Commission.
The voting percentage Gujarat was 56.91 per cent, Karnataka 68.82 per cent, Madhya Pradesh 63.67 per cent, Uttar Pradesh 57.34 per cent, , Bihar 56.55 per cent, Chhattisgarh 67.24 per cent, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu 65.23 per cent.
The voting started at 7 am. While the official time for voting to end is 6 pm, it went beyond the fixed polling hours to enable several voters waiting in queues at polling stations to exercise their franchise.
As many as 17.24 crore people, including 8.39 crore females, were eligible to vote in this phase and 1.85 lakh polling stations manned by 18.5 lakh officials had been set up.
PM Modi votes in third phase
Until 6 pm a voter turnout of 55.22 per cent was recorded in 25 Lok Sabha seats of Gujarat.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were among those who exercised their franchise the state. While Modi cast his vote at a polling booth in Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency, Shah voted at a polling booth in Ahmedabad.
Shah (Gandhinagar) is among the bigwigs in the fray in this phase along with Union ministers Jyotiraditya Scindia (Guna), Mansukh Mandaviya (Porbandar), Parshottam Rupala (Rajkot), Pralhad Joshi (Dharwad) and SP Singh Baghel (Agra).
Akhilesh alleges ‘booth looting’ in UP
In Uttar Pradesh, where several members of Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav's family are contesting, close to 55.13 per cent polling was recorded in 10 seats till 6 pm.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav alleged that the BJP workers were trying to "loot booths" in Mainpuri and people from opposition parties were being detained in police stations.
Yadav cast his vote in Saifai (Etawah) in Mainpuri constituency where his wife and sitting MP Dimple Yadav is contesting.
Among other states, Chhattisgarh recorded 66.87 per cent polling, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu 65.23 per cent, Goa 72.52 per cent, Karnataka 66.05 per cent, and Madhya Pradesh 62.28 per cent, according to the EC.
Violence in West Bengal
Sporadic incidents of violence marred the third phase of Lok Sabha polls in four constituencies in West Bengal as TMC, BJP and Congress-CPI(M) workers clashed with each other in various parts of Murshidabad and Jangipur seats.
According to officials, Murshidabad registered the highest voter turnout of 76.49 per cent followed by Maldaha Dakshin (73.68 pc), Maldaha Uttar (73.30 pc), and Jangipur (72.13 pc).
The TMC, BJP, and the Congress-CPI(M) alliance lodged separate complaints related to poll violence, voter intimidation, and assaults on poll agents.
In the Karimpur area of the seat, clashes were reported between the TMC and the CPI(M) supporters outside a few booths. Clashes were reported between the TMC and the Congress activists from the Domkol area.
BJP candidate Dhanajoy Ghosh faced protests by TMC cadres in the Jangipur area as he tried to enter some of the booths in the constituency.
3 dead in Karnataka
Queues were seen at polling booths in most Lok Sabha segments in northern districts of Karnataka.
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi and Bhagwanth Khuba, and Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge were among those who came in early to cast their votes in Karnataka.
Former chief minister B S Yediyurappa along with sons B Y Raghavendra, BJP candidate from Shimoga Lok Sabha segment and B Y Vijayendra, party's state President – and daughters-in-law cast their vote at Shikaripura in Shivamogga district.
Two government officials on poll duty died in Karnataka after suffering a heart attack, sources in the Election Commission said.
A 45-year-old woman polling officer – Kaushika Babariya – deployed at a polling booth in Amreli district of Gujarat, also died of a heart attack.
In Maharashtra, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, his wife Sunetra Pawar, who is the NCP candidate from the Baramati Lok Sabha seat, and NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar were among those who cast their votes.
Sharad Pawar welcomed with ‘aarti’
Sharad Pawar was welcomed with a traditional 'aarti' as he arrived at a polling booth in the Malegaon area of Baramati constituency in Pune district.
Ajit Pawar and Sunetra Pawar cast their votes at a polling booth in Katewadi area of Baramati.
Sunetra is pitted against her sister-in-law Supriya Sule, Sharad Pawar's daughter and the sitting MP from there.
In Assam, people lined up in large numbers across four Lok Sabha constituencies to cast their vote.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma accompanied by his wife Riniki Bhuyan Sarma and daughter Sukanya Sarma exercised his franchise at Amingaon in Barpeta Lok Sabha seat.
People used all modes of transport, including boats, to reach the polling stations across Guwahati, Barpeta, Dhubri and Kokrajhar constituencies to exercise their democratic franchise amid rain.
Over 1,300 candidates, including around 120 women, are in the fray in the third phase.
Voting was completed in 189 seats out of 543 seats in the first two phases. The next four phases will be on May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1. The counting of votes is on June 4.
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Live Updates
- 7 May 2024 2:00 PM IST
24.35% voter turnout recorded till 11 am in polls to 25 LS seats in Gujarat
A voter turnout of 24.35 per cent was recorded in the first four hours of polling in 25 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat in the third phase of the general election on Tuesday, an official from the Election Commission (EC) said. As many as 265 candidates are in the fray for 25 out of 26 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
The 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 24.35 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the first four hours of polling, which began at 7 am," the official said.
As per the data shared by the EC, the Banaskantha constituency in north Gujarat recorded the highest turnout of 30.27 per cent, while the Porbandar seat in the Saurashtra region saw the lowest turnout of 19.83 per cent between 7 am and 11 am.
Voters turned up in large numbers at polling booths in the early hours, as long serpentine queues could be seen outside several booths.
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 from where Shah has been renominated.
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.
In Gujarat, Union Home Minister Amit Shah is in the fray from Gandhinagar, while his cabinet colleagues Mansukh Mandaviya and Parshottam Rupala are contesting from Porbandar and Rajkot seats, respectively.
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.
- 7 May 2024 1:58 PM IST
Chhattisgarh: 29.90% turnout recorded in 7 LS seats till 11 am
A voter turnout of 29.90 per cent was recorded in the first four hours of polling 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 29.90 per cent has been registered till 11 am. Polling is underway smoothly and peacefully," the official said.
Long queues of voters were seen at polling booths in some seats.
Chhattisgarh's Deputy Chief Minister Arun Sao, who exercised his franchise at a polling booth in Bilaspur, was among the early voters.
Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan and his wife cast their votes in Civil Lines Raipur.
Talking to reporters, the governor appealed to voters to exercise their franchise to elect the government of their choice.
"Voting right is the most valuable right of a citizen, and my appeal to all people is that they must vote to elect the government of their choice. Nobody should refrain from coming to the polling booth and voting," he said.
State Minister OP Choudhary cast his vote in Raigarh district, while Congress candidate from Surguja seat Shashi Singh inked his finger at Shivpur village in Surajpur district.
State Chief Secretary Amitabh Jain and his wife cast their votes in Devndra Nagar officers colony here, the state's Chief Electoral Officer Reena Babasaheb Kangale voted at the Dharampura polling booth, and Additional Chief Electoral Officer Nilesh Kshirsagar at Amlidih polling booth in Raipur.
Residents of Dhumadand village in Koriya under the Korba Lok Sabha seat have boycotted the elections, citing the lack of a road.
According to officials, security has been beefed up in the state with the deployment of 202 companies of the Central forces and more than 60,000 personnel of the police and District Reserve Guard.
Altogether, 168 candidates, including 26 women, are in the fray in the third and final phase of elections in the state.
The main contest is between the BJP, which won 10 out of the total 11 seats in the three general elections after 2004, and the Congress.
In the 2019 polls, the BJP bagged nine seats, and the Congress got two seats.
A total of 1,39,01,285 persons, including 69,33,121 men, 69,67,544 women and 620 members of the third gender, are eligible to exercise their franchise in the third phase.
Raipur has the maximum number of 38 candidates in the fray, followed by 37 in Bilaspur, 27 in Korba, 25 in Durg, 18 in Janjgir-Champa, 13 in Raigarh, and 10 in Surguja.
