A high voter turnout was recorded in the third and largest phase of Lok Sabha elections Tuesday covering 116 constituencies amid complaints of EVM malfunctioning in many states and killing of a man outside a booth in West Bengal.
Election Commission officials in Delhi put the votingpercentage at 64.66. Final figures are likely to change as queues of voterswere seen at several centres even after the scheduled time for voting ended.
Polling was also held in Anantnag seat in Jammu and Kashmirwhich saw a turnout of 13.61 per cent. Elections for this seat are beingconducted in three phases.
With Tuesday’s polling, voting has been held in 302 LokSabha constituencies apart from Anantnag.
In Gujarat, a turnout of 58.96 per cent was registered till5 pm for the 26 seats.
Key political leaders, including Prime Minister NarendraModi, BJP president Amit Shah, party veteran L K Advani, Union Finance MinisterArun Jaitley and Congress leader Ahmed Patel cast their votes at differentplaces in the state. Shah is contesting from Gandhinagar seat.
The polling percentage was 70.28 by 5 PM in Kerala fromwhere Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, party MP Shashi Tharoor and Union minister KAlphons are among those who are trying their luck.
In Karnataka, 60.42 per cent voters cast their votes in the14 Lok Sabha constituencies with the Congress-JD(S) alliance and the BJP lockedin a fierce contest.
An estimated 56.71 per cent of voters exercised theirfranchise till 5 pm Tuesday in the 10 Lok Sabha seats of Uttar Pradesh amidreports EVM snags at some booths.
Prominent leaders in the fray in this phase are four membersof SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav’s clan including him besides senior partyleader Azam Khan and actor and BJP candidate Jaya Prada. Mulayam’s brotherShivpal Yadav and nephews Dharmendra Yadav and Akshay Yadav are alsocontesting.
There were complaints of EVM malfunctioning at some boothsand were attended to, Chief Electoral Officer L Venkateshwar Lu said inLucknow.
The Samajwadi Party lodged a complaint over the allegedmalfunctioning of EVMs with the Election Commission, terming it criminalnegligence.
At a booth in Etah, the Presiding Officer was removed afterpeople accused him of forcing them to cast their votes in favour of the SP.
SP leader Ahmed Nafis was taken into custody for some hoursin Kasganj in Etah after authorities anticipated breach of peace.
SP MP Dharmendra Yadav, who is seeking re-election fromBadaun, lodged a complaint against state minister Swami Prasad Maurya, claiminghe was campaigning in the constituency for his daughter and BJP candidateSanghmitra Maurya.
A turnout of 57.01 was recorded at the end of voting hoursacross 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra. State BJP president RaosahebDanve (Jalna) and NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule (Baramati) areamong the prominent candidates in the fray.
The two Lok Sabha seats in neighbouring Goa registered anaverage 70.90 per cent voting till 5 pm.
Chhattisgarh saw a turnout of 64.68 per cent till 5 pm.
In West Bengal, a group of men attacked 52-year-old TiyarulSheikh with sharp weapons following an altercation when he went to vote at abooth in Baligram Primary School under Bhagwangola police station limits inMurshidabad Lok Sabha constituency, police sources said.
Congress candidate of Murshidabad Lok Sabha seat Abu Henaclaimed Tiyarul was a party worker and was killed by TMC cadres.
The Election Commission sought a report from the Murshidabaddistrict magistrate.
According to the latest data available from the ElectionCommission, an estimated 61 per cent polling was recorded in Odisha, 78.97 percent in West Bengal, 71.47 per cent in Assam, 54.91 per cent in Bihar and 77.28per cent in Tripura.
Voting was also held in 42 assembly constituencies inOdisha.
Polling process was briefly hampered with reports of EVMmalfunctioning in some states, and the arrest of two polling agents of theruling BJP in Tripura, an election official said.
Bombs were reportedly hurled outside a booth in Balurghatseat of West Bengal, leading to commotion, he said, adding, central forces alsoallegedly baton charged a mob in Suti area of Jangipur.
Among the prominent candidates in the fray in Odisha are BJPnational spokesperson Sambit Patra and Odisha Congress chief Niranjan Patnaik,while in Bihar, Loktantrik Janata Dal chief Sharad Yadav and state ministerDinesh Chandra Yadav are contesting the polls.
The electoral battle in West Bengal for the third phasefeatures sitting MPs and TMC candidates – Arpita Ghosh from Balurghat andMausam Benazir Noor from Maldaha Uttar – Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee’s sonAbhijit from Jangipur and BJP’s Humayun Kabir.
In Assam, noteworthy among those in the fray are sitting MPsAIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal in Dhubri and Independent Naba Sarania inKokrajhar; BPF candidate and state social welfare minister Pramila Rani fromKokrajhar and Congress MLA Abdul Khaleque from Barpeta.
Voting was also held in one seat each in Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.