The fifth phase of LokSabha polls on Monday across seven states recorded over 62 per cent turnout.
According to the Election Commission, over 57.33 per cent of2.47 crore eligible people cast their vote in 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, wherepolitical heavyweights like Congress’ Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and Unionministers Rajnath Singh and SmritiIrani were in the fray.
In Rajasthan, 63.78 per cent polling was recorded in 12seats, while it was 63.88 per cent in seven constituencies in Madhya Pradesh,57.86 per cent five seats in Bihar and 63.72 in four seats in Jharkhand thatwent to polls on Monday.
The voter turnout was 74.42 in seven seats in West Bengal,where incidents of Trinamool Congress and BJP workers attacking each other,hurling of bombs, injury to a candidate due to lathicharge by central forces,manhandling of a contestant and beating up of a polling agent were reported inBangaon (SC), Barrackpore, Hooghly and Howrah constituencies.
In Jammu and Kashmir, 64 per cent polling was recorded inLadakh but the turnout was barely three per cent in militancy-infested Shopianand Pulwama districts in the final of the three-phase election to Anantnagconstituency held amid militant threats and boycott call by separatists inKashmir.
The overall turnout was 8.76 per cent as against 28.54 percent in 2014 in Anantnag where 18 candidates are in the fray including PDPpresident and former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti.
In the high profile Amethi seat, Union minister and BJPcandidate SmritiIrani alleged that her rival and Congress president RahulGandhi was “ensuring booth capturing” and also tagged a video ontwitter in which an elderly women alleged that her hand was forcibly put on’panja’ (hand) election symbol of the Congress. But the Chief Electoral Officersaid the matter was “examined thoroughly and found baseless”.
The turnout was 53 per cent in Amethi, 53.68 per cent in Raebareli and around 53 percent in Lucknow. The BJP had bagged 12 of the 14 seats in 2014 with theCongress winning Rae Bareli and Amethi.
Prominent voters in the state capital Lucknow included HomeMinister Singh, BSP supremoMayawati, Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma andBSP general secretary S C Misra.
In West Bengal, a scuffle between Barrackpore seat’s BJPcandidate Arjun Singh and personnel of central security forces was reportedwhen the former TMC MLA tried to enter a booth following allegations thatvoters were not being allowed to exercise their franchise there, the officialsaid.
Alleging that the police were not doing anything to stoprigging in some booths of Barrackpore seat, Singh demanded that re-polling beordered.
The maximum number of “sensitive” booths inMonday’s elections were in Barrackpore seat where TMC sitting MP Dinesh Trivedihas been pitted against Singh, who switched over to the BJP recently after hewas denied a ticket by party supremoMamata Banerjee.
In Howrah’s Balitikuri, TMC candidate and former Indiafootballer PrasunBandyopdhayay was “manhandled” allegedly by centralforces when he tried to enter a booth there. An FIR was lodged in thisconnection, Bandyopadhyay said.
Bomb explosions were reported from outside a booth at Hingliin Bangaon constituency following a clash between two groups allegedly owingallegiance to the TMC and the BJP, in which two persons were injured, anofficial said.
There is also a report that a CPI(M) agent was beaten up anddriven out of a booth in Arambagh constituency. A presiding officer at a booth in Tarakeswar was removed after oneperson, allegedly belonging to TMC, was seen casting votes on behalf of othersthere.
The ruling Trinamool Congress, the BJP, the Congress andLeft Front constituent CPI(M) are the main contenders in the seven seats where83 candidates are contesting.
In Rajasthan, where polling concluded Monday, an overallturnout of 66.12 per cent in 25 seats was recorded in the two phases.
An official said “minor issues related to EVMs werereported at some places” in Madhya Pradesh “but they were sortedout”.
Barring a few reports of poll boycott and EVM glitches,voting was largely peaceful in Bihar. One person has been taken into custody inSaran for damaging an EVM which was replaced.
“The voting process was delayed by around 30 minutes insix polling stations of Saran, two in Madhubani, one each in Sitamarhi andMuzaffarpur constituencies due to technical glitches in the EVMs, but theofficials have attended to the issues,” according to an official.
Over 8.75 crore electors were to decide the fate of 674candidates in the fifth phase Monday. The Election Commission had set up 96,000polling booths which included the maximumof 28,072 in Uttar Pradesh.
With this phase, election is over in 424 seats and pollingin the remaining 118 seats will be held on May 12 and 19.
Election to 542 LokSabha seats is being conducted in sevenphases between April 11 and May 19. Election to Vellore constituency in TamilNadu had been cancelled by the EC following excess use of money power.Results will be declared on May 23.