In Odisha, polling came to an end in 10 Lok Sabha and 70 state Assembly constituencies this evening. About 58 percent polling has been recorded by 4 this afternoon. First phase polling was held in these constituencies spread over 19 of the 30 districts in the state.
According to chief electoral office sources, highest polling has been recorded in Angul district with 69 per cent, while Maoist-affected Malkangiri district recorded lowest 43.7 per cent so far.
Polling was disrupted in four booths at Mathili block in Maoist-affected Malkangiri district after a group of miscreants set fire to the truck which was carrying the electronic voting machines to the polling booths. A group of miscreants also damaged the electronic voting machines at Badakaturu village of Guranthi panchayat in Gajapati district. Maoists also looted some electronic voting machines in Kotapad Assembly constituency. Polling, however, has been peaceful in other election areas of the state.
In Jharkhand, 58.3 percent of voting was reported when polling ended at 4 PM today for all the four Lok Sabha constituencies. Voting was peaceful, barring a few minor incidences. Poll percentage for Koderma is 61 percent, Chatra 54 percent, Lohardaga 59 percent and Palamu 59.4 percent.
Last Lok Sabha election saw 50 to 51 percent voting in these constituencies.
The Election was monitored intensively and 49 thousand security forces were deployed for security. Of these, 45 thousand were deployed in polling booths numbering over seven thousands spread across 10 districts. 201 web cams were also deployed in sensitive booths to monitor the poll live by the Election Commission Officers.
In Bihar, about 51 percent polling was recorded in all the six Parliamentary constituencies today. Brisk polling was reported all over. The highest polling has been recorded from Gaya and the lowest in Nawada Lok Sabha seat.
Heavy polling was reported in Kerela with about 74 per cent of voters exercising their franchise to elect 20 Lok Sabha members from the state today. As per provisional figures released by the Election Commission this evening, 73.6 per cent of the electorate exercised their franchise. But in many places, voters were queuing up after the 6 PM deadline and this may push up the final figure. Vadakara recorded the highest voter turnout of 81.4 per cent, while Kannur registered 80.9 per cent.
Other constituencies that recorded higher voter turnout include Kozhikode 79.6 per cent, Alappuzha 78.8 per cent, Kasargod 78 per cent and Chalakkudy 77 per cent. The Malabar region of Kerala registered higher voter turnout than other parts of the state.
The lowest turnout was registered in Pathanamthitta parliamentary constituency, where only 66 per cent of the electorate turned out to cast their vote. The state capital Thiruvananthapuram and Attingal parliamentary constituency also registered a lower turnout of 69 per cent.
The principal fight there is between the ruling Congress-led UDF and the CPI(M)-led LDF. Candidates whose fate had been sealed included six Union ministers – Shashi Tharoor, K V Thomas, Kodikunnil Suresh, K C. Venugopal and Mullapally Ramachandran (all Congress) and E Ahamed of Indian Union Muslim League.
Meanwhile, the Chief Election Agent of Minister of State for Home and Mullappally Ramachandran lodged a complaint with the State Chief Electoral Officer that several persons were allowed to cast their votes without affidavits in some polling booths in Vadakara constituency.
