67.84 polling registered; sporadic violence in Bengal, C’garh, Manipur; EVM snag at some places
The turnout for the second phase of polling on Thursday interestingly turned out to be an exact contrast to that of the first phase. According to the Election Commission, the second phase turnout at 67.84 per cent was 1.28 per cent lower than 69.12 per cent registered in 2014. Sporadic violence was reported from West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Manipur even as EVM glitches were reported from some places.
The second phase of Lok Sabha elections was held for 95 seats across 11 States and Union Territory of Puducherry. With this, the poll process has been completed in 14 States and Union Territories. In all, polling has been completed in 186 Lok Sabha constituencies.
Tamil Nadu went to polls for 38 of 39 constituencies with DMK’s A Raja and Kanimozhi being the prominent candidates in the fray. BJP’s Hema Malini and Congress leader Raj Babbar among others were among the notables who contested on the eight seats that went to polls in Uttar Pradesh. Former Prime Minister and JD(S) patriarch HD Deve Gowda from Karnataka and National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah in Jammu & Kashmir too tested the ballot power.
Union Ministers Jitendra Singh, Jual Oram, Sadananda Gowda and Pon Radhakrishnan were in the fray in the second of the seven-phased Lok Sabha poll which would conclude on May 19.
Voting picked up in the second phase by afternoon which was marred by an IED blast by Naxals in Chhattisgarh, police firing in West Bengal on stone pelters and EVM glitches at some places. CPI(M) candidate from Raiganj Md Salim claimed that his car was attacked by unknown persons when he went to a polling booth at Islampur in Uttar Dinajpur in West Bengal.
According to EC, UP registered 62.3 per cent polling, Assam 78.27 per cent, Bihar 62.52 per cent, Chhattisgarh 71 per cent , Karnataka 61.80 per cent, Maharashrra 62 per cent, Manipur 74.69 per cent, Odisha 64 per cent, Puducherry 78 per cent, Tamil Nadu 72 per cent and West Bengal 76 per cent.
The first phase of polling on April 11 included 91 constituencies, registering 69.43 per cent of polling, three per cent more than recorded in 2014 general elections.
Besides Tamil Nadu, voting took place in 14 seats in Karnataka, 10 in Maharashtra, eight in Uttar Pradesh, five each in Assam, Bihar and Odisha, three each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, two in Jammu & Kashmir and one seat each in Manipur and Puducherry. Elections were also held in 35 Assembly constituencies of Odisha and in 18 Assembly seats in Tamil Nadu.
A total of 1,600 candidates were in the electoral battle for 95 seats which would be crucial for the BJP as for the Opposition to keep the tempo of the fight for the New Delhi which has still 357 Lok Sabha seats to go to poll before the final verdict is announced on May 23.
The AIADMK holds the maximum of 36 seats of the 95 seats which witnessed polling in 2nd phase, followed by the BJP with 27 seats. The Congress had won 12 of these seats in 2014, the Shiv Sena and the BJD 4 each, the JD(S) and the RJD two each and the AIUDF, the NCP, the JD(U), the PDP, the AINRC, the PMK, the CPM and the TMC one seat each.
Electorally key State of Uttar Pradesh with 80 LS seats has completed polling in 16 seats of western UP.
Polling was conducted in Srinagar Parliamentary constituency of Jammu & Kashmir to decide the fate of 10 candidates, including NC president Farooq Abdullah who is seeking a re-election.
Security personnel have been deployed in strength in and around polling stations in all three districts — Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal — of the constituency, officials said. The polling for Udhampur-Doda and Srinagar seats recorded 43.3 per cent at 5 pm.
Polling in Chhattisgarh witnessed violence with an ITBP jawan suffering minor injuries after Naxals triggered an IED blast in Rajnandgaon district.
Long queues were seen at polling booths in Tamil Nadu, with Chief Minister K Palaniswami and DMK chief MK Stalin among the early voters.
Sporadic incidents of violence were reported in some areas of Bengal. A reporter and a camera person of a local news channel were allegedly manhandled when they went to cover polling at Kataphulbari in the Raiganj constituency, they said.
Voters in Uttar Dinajpur district’s Chopra under the Raiganj constituency reportedly put up a road blockade, complaining about the absence of Central forces at the polling stations, the sources said.
Police fired in the air and lobbed tear gas shells to control a mob, after stones were pelted at them and bombs were hurled by unknown persons in Chopra, a senior EC official in the district said. At least three persons were detained by police in this connection, he said.
