“We all have been infected by the virus of progress and growth. Even if a coalition govt comes, it should work towards progress and growth of the country,” says the chairman of Mahindra Group, Anand Mahindra after casting his vote in Malabar Hill.
According to the ECI, 23.62% polling is recorded till 12pm.
17.07 per cent voter turnout recorded in five parliamentary constituencies of Darbhanga, Ujiarpur, Samastipur, Begusarai and Munger, in Bihar, till 11 am.
Jharkhand: Estimated polling percentage of 29.21 per cent recorded till 11 am.
An Independent candidate in Madhya Pradesh’s Balaghat Lok Sabha seat alleged that his vehicle was set afire by Naxals on Monday, officials said.
A case was registered by police in this connection and the state election office was also probing the incident, they said.
Kishore Samrite, who is contesting as an Independent candidate, claimed while talking to reporters in Balaghat that the incident took place when he stopped his jeep at Posra village in Lanjhi area of the district in the wee hours of Monday to offer prayers at a temple.
While he was at the temple, around 20 to 25 “armed Naxals” attacked his four-wheeler and set it ablaze before fleeing, he alleged.
Voter turn out till 9 am
Woman poll staffer dies of heart attack in MP
A 50-year-old woman poll staffer died after suffering a heart attack ahead of voting in Chhindwara Lok Sabha seat of Madhya Pradesh, an official said on Monday.
Sunanda Kotekar, who was deployed at Lodhikheda polling booth in Saunsar area of Chhindwara, felt uneasy on Sunday night, Chief Electoral Officer V L Kantha Rao said.
She died of the heart attack even before she could be provided any medical assistance, he added.
Over 13% voting recorded in first 2 hours in Rajasthan
Over 13 per cent voting was registered in the first two hours of polling in 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in Rajasthan which began at 7 am on Monday.
Banswara recorded the maximum voter turn out of 14.44 per cent, while the overall voting percentage at 9 am was 13.10 per cent, according to the office of the chief electoral officer.
Banswara is a tribal dominated Lok Sabha seat in south Rajasthan.
The polling began amid tight security arrangements in 13 constituencies of Tonk-Sawaimadhopur, Ajmer, Pali, Jodhpur, Barmer, Jalore, Udaipur, Banswara, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand, Bhilwara, Kota and Jhalawar-Baran.
Polling begins on slow pace in UP
An estimated 9.59 per cent voters exercised their franchise in the first two hours of polling in 13 constituencies of Uttar Pradesh in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections Monday.
Seats, where polling is underway, are Shahjahanpur (SC), Kheri, Hardoi (SC), Misrikh (SC), Unnao, Farrukhabad, Etawah (SC), Kannauj, Kanpur, Akbarpur, Jalaun (SC), Jhansi and Hamirpur.
Polling in this phase is especially important for the ruling BJP as it is aiming for a clean sweep by winning all 13 seats, including Kannauj which was the only seat the Samajwadi Party had managed to win in 2014.
Kannauj was won by Samajwadi Party’s Dimple Yadav.
On four of these seats – Shahjahanpur, Hardoi, Mishrikh and Etawah- the BJP opted for new faces while former Union ministers Murli Manohar Joshi (Kanpur) and Uma Bharti (Jhansi) are also not in the fray this time.
7.92 per cent voting recorded till 9 am in 5 LS seats of Bihar
An estimated 7.92 per cent voting was recorded Monday in the first two hours of polling in five Lok Sabha constituencies of Bihar in the fourth phase of general elections, officials said.
A total of 87.74 lakh voters would decide the fate of 66 candidates, including three women nominees, in this phase of polling in 8,834 booths.
Polling is underway in the five Lok Sabha constituencies of Darbhanga, Ujiarpur, Samastipur, Begusarai and Munger.
“Voting has been peaceful with no untoward incident reported from any of these constituencies so far,” election officials said.
Polling was, however, briefly hampered at three booths in Munger, two in Darbhanga and three in Begusarai due to glitches in EVMs, which were rectified, they said.
Polling percentage in Maharashtra in the 17 constituencies is recorded at 6.82% till 9:00 a.m.. Following are the Mumbai district voting percentage:
Mumbai South Central 6.44%
Mumbai South 6.02%
Mumbai North – 7.85%
North West – 6.9%
North East – 7.00%
North Central – 5.98%
South Central – 6.45%
Mumbai South – 5.91%
Polling percentage recorded till 9 am: 6.82 per cent polling recorded in Maharashtra (17 seats) while 11.11 per cent in Madhya Pradesh (6 seats) and 9 per cent in Odisha (6) and 16.90 per cent in West Bengal (8 seats)
Clashes erupted between TMC workers and (quick reaction force) QRF, security personnel outside polling booth number 125-129 in Asansol, following a disagreement between BJP & CPI(M) workers after TMC workers insisted on polling despite the absence of central forces.
Union Minister and BJP candidate from Asansol Babul Supriyo’s car vandalised
”I will myself take the central forces to that polling station. It is good people in West Bengal are aware that they want central forces so that they can cast their vote. That’s why Mamata Banerjee is scared,” he said.
Earlier, villagers boycotted polls at Jemua’s polling booth in Asansol due to the absence of central forces at the polling station.
Polling was suspended at the polling station as voters protested.
West Bengal: BJP MP candidate from Asansol, Babul Supriyo’s car vandalised in Asansol. A TMC polling agent says, there is no BJP polling agent here.5
Congress candidate from Mumbai North, Urmila Matondkar cast her vote at a polling booth in Bandra while veteran actress Shubha Khote exercised her franchise at a polling booth in Juhu, Mumbai.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath after casting his vote at a polling booth in Shikarpur, Chhindwara.
Villagers boycott polls at Jemua’s polling booth in Asansol, West Bengal due to the absence of central forces at the polling station.
Polling has been suspended at the polling station as voters are protesting.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das cast his vote at a polling booth at Peddar Road in Mumbai and BJP candidate from Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur, Ravi Kishan exercised his franchise at a polling booth in Goregaon.
BJP MP Candidate from Mumbai North Central, Poonam Mahajan cast her vote at a polling booth in Worli while former Rajasthan chief minister and BJP leader Vasundhara Raje Scindia exercised her franchise at a polling booth in Jhalawar.
Industrialst Anil Ambani cast his vote at voting centre number 216 at GD Somani School in Cuffe Parade.
Kanhaiya Kumar (CPI), Baijayant Panda (BJP), Urmila Matondkar (Congress), Dimple Yadav (Samajwadi Party), Milind Deora (Congress), Priya Dutt (Congressi, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath’s son Nakul Nath and Salman Khurshid( Congress) are among the key contestants as phase 4 of Lok Sabha election gets underway.
Union Minister and sitting MP from Nawada, Giriraj Singh, cast his vote at a polling booth in Barahiya of Lakhisarai district in Bihar. Earlier, Giriraj, who is pitted against former JNU student’s union president and CPI candidate Kanhaiya Kumar, offered prayers at Barahiya’s Shaktidham before exercising his franchise.
Voting is taking place in 17 seats in Maharashtra, 13 each in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, eight in West Bengal, six each in Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, five in Bihar, three in Jharkhand and a part of Anantnag constituency in Jammu and Kashmir.
Polling booths in 71 constituencies for the fourth phase of Lok Sabha polls opened today spread across Bihar, Odisha, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir.
Apart from these, 42 Assembly constituencies in Odisha will also go to polls on Monday.
CPI’s Kanhaiya Kumar pitched against Union Minister Giriraj Singh and RJD’s Tanveer Hassan is the big draw in Bihar’s Begusarai.
The fate of several high profile candidates including Mumbai Congress chief Milind Deora, Congress leader Priya Dutt from Mumbai, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath’s son Nakul Nath, BJP vice-president Baijayanta Panda, will be decided today.
All eyes will be in Uttar Pradesh’s Kannauj where Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s wife Dimple Yadav will be contesting today. Union Minister Babul Supriyo is contesting from Asansol seat against Trinamool Congress’ Moon Moon Sen which will be keenly followed.
There are as many as 945 candidates who are vying to win over voters in 71 constituencies. The counting of votes will take place on May 23rd.
Agencies
