Voter turnout high at most places amid poll-related violence and EVM glitches
An election official applies indelible ink on the fingers of voters at a polling station, in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. Pics/PTI/AFP
The world's largest democratic exercise began on Thursday with crores of people coming out to vote to elect 91 parliamentarians in the first phase of over-a-month-long Lok Sabha polls for which the Modi government has made nationalism its core pitch to retain power amid a fragmented challenge from the Congress and a number of regional players.
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Election officials said voter turnout was high at most places, while poll-related violence saw death of two persons in Andhra Pradesh and complaints poured in from various states about glitches in EVMs and of names missing from lists.
A polling official carries VVPAT machines to load data of symbols at a distribution point ahead of the second phase of the election, in Chennai
The 91 Lok Sabha constituencies in the first phase, spread across 18 states and two union territories, have more than 14 crore voters - about one-sixth of the nearly 90 crore total electorate in India. Votes for all 543 seats will be counted on May 23 after the seven-phase polling ends on May 19. An estimated 1.5 crore young voters in the age group of 18-19 years would vote for the first time across the seven phases.
In the first phase, the BJP is looking to defend 32 seats, including those being fought by senior party leader Nitin Gadkari and five other Union ministers. The main Opposition party Congress is hoping to defend seven seats it won in 2014, besides eyeing gains in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.
Two Andhra party workers killed in clash
Two party workers, including one belonging to the ruling TDP, were killed in a clash while technical problems in EVMs hampered the poll process in some booths in Andhra Pradesh. State Chief Electoral Officer Gopal Krishna Dwivedi said there were some glitches in the functioning of 381 EVMs, which were rectified subsequently. Police said a TDP worker and another belonging YSR Congress were killed in the clash in Anantapuramu district. The clash occurred at Veerapuram village. The deceased have been identified as Pulla Reddy of YSR Congress and Sidda Bhaskar Reddy of the TDP, police sources said.
107-yr-old becomes Sikkim's oldest voter
Sumitra Rai, a 107-year-old woman, became Sikkim's oldest voter to exercise franchise in the polls. She came on a wheelchair to the Kamrang Government Secondary School booth in the Poklok Kamrang constituency to cast her vote. Her photographs were shared by the official Twitter account of the Sikkim office of Press Information Bureau, the publicity arm of the I&B Ministry.
BSF men fire in air to control voters without ID cards
BSF personnel fired in the air at a polling booth as some people, who were not carrying their identity cards, tried to forcibly enter the premises to cast their votes, police said. The incident took place at a polling booth in Rasoolpur Gujran village under Kandhla police station, they said. Some people, who had turned up without their ID cards, tried to enter the polling booth forcibly. Pushing and shoving ensued when the presiding officer tried to stop them, said a police officer.
'Namo' food packets trigger row in Noida
Some security personnel on election duty in Noida were served meals in packets labelled 'Namo Foods', triggering criticism from the Opposition even after the local police said the packs only displayed the name of the shop. The BSP said it has complained to the Election Commission. 'NaMo' are widely-recognised Hindi initials of PM Narendra Modi, previously seen on BJP merchandise and recently as the name of a TV channel.
Parties slug it out
Amit Shah,
BJP president
'It is our commitment to bring in NRC across the country to chuck out each and every infiltrator. Unlike Mamata Banerjee, we don't treat infiltrators as our vote bank. For us national security is supreme'
Narendra Modi,
prime minister
'We say we will trace out and demolish terror hideouts in J&K and put those, who are funded by Pakistan to carry out terrorist activities, behind bars. The Congress and its allies say they will hold talks. Can those singing the tunes of Pakistan, speaking its language and thriving on its finances be trusted with talks?'
Rahul Gandhi,
Congress president
'Today, the Grand Festival of Democracy has started. The country does not have to be trapped in new tricks and has to follow the path to progress. We have to take India to new heights. We have to save it from lies, cheating and jumlas'
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