Barring minor incidents in West Bengal, brisk voting has been recorded in most of the 41 constituencies in three states of West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in the last phase of Lok Sabha polls today.
Voting was by and large peaceful in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh but in West Bengal 4 persons received bullet injuries in a series of clashes between ruling Trinamul Congress and Opposition CPI(M) supporters at Haroa in North 24 Pargana district. 16 injured have been admitted to hospitals. Stray incidents have also been reported from some areas of Kolkata. Opposition parties have blamed the Trinamul Congress for the violence.
In Bihar, 37.86 percent voting was reported till 1 PM in six Lok Sabha parliamentary constituencies where polling is being held in the last phase of elections today. According to state election commission office, maximum 41.16 percent voting was reported in Vaishali, while minimum 32 percent was in Gopalganj reserved seat. East Champaran reported 41 percent followed by Siwan 38.5, Valmikinagar 38 and West Champaran 37 percent polling.
In West Bengal over 56 percent polling was recorded till 1 PM today. Voting is on in 17 Parliamentary constituencies covering 7 districts including Kolkata in the last phase of Lok Sabha elections. The State Chief Electoral Officer, Sunil Gupta told AIR that, voting is by and large peaceful barring a few stray incidents. Over 2 crore 55 lakhs 75 thousand electorates will determine the political fate of 188 candidates.
In Uttar Pradesh, 36.29 percent polling was recorded till one p.m. in the last phase of polling for the Lok Sabha elelctions in 18 constituencies. In the high-profile constituency of Varanasi where BJP leader Narendra Modi and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal are in the fray an impressive 35 per cent voters exercised their franchise even as Congress nominee Ajay Rai landed himself in trouble after he went to vote wearing his election symbol on his kurta. Higher polling was reported from rural areas while voting in urban areas were relatively low. Braving over 40 degree Celsius temperature, people came in large numbers in areas like Nadesar, Ram Nagar and Benaras Hindu University campus as well in Muslim dominated localities within the city, indicating that voting percentage will be much higher then 42 per cent polling in 2009 polls. The polling began at 7 AM amid tight security and Anant Narayan Singh, the king of Kashi, which is the ancient name of Varanasi, was among the early voters.
