LS polls: Violence in Bengal, clashes in Punjab reported; over 30 per cent polling till afternoon

Incidents of violence in West Bengal and clashes in Punjab were reported during the seventh and last phase of Lok Sabha polls on Sunday, with an average of over 30 per cent polling recorded till the afternoon in 59 seats. The last phase of Lok Sabha elections, which will decide the fate of 918 candidates including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also saw EVM glitches and poll boycott at some booths.

Voting is underway in all 13 seats of Punjab and an equal number of seats in Uttar Pradesh, nine in West Bengal, eight seats each in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, four in Himachal Pradesh, three in Jharkhand and the lone seat Chandigarh. In Uttar Pradesh, 36.44 per cent voting was recorded till 1 pm in 13 Lok Sabha seats, officials said.

The turnout in Varanasi was 23.10 per cent, while in Gorakhpur, it was 23.62 per cent. The highest turnout was 26 per cent in Maharajganj, while Robertsganj reported the lowest turnout of 20.20 per cent, the Election Commission said. Incidents of violence were reported in West Bengal where over 32 per cent of over 1.49 crore electorate exercised their franchise till 11 am in nine Lok Sabha seats.

According to BJP's North Kolkata candidate Rahul Sinha, a crude bomb was hurled near Girish Park in the constituency around noon. Police, however, said crackers were burst in the area, and polling was underway peacefully.

In Kolkata south, TMC candidate Mala Roy alleged that she was stopped from entering polling booths. Sporadic clashes were reported in Kolkata and its surrounding areas, with TMC workers claiming that voters were being intimidated by central forces outside booths.

BJP candidate Nilanjan Roy in Diamond Harbour constituency alleged that his car was vandalized in Budge Budge area. Similar reports also came in from Jadavpur constituency, where BJP candidate Anupam Hazra's car came under the attack of unidentified men.

"Polling has by and large been peaceful in the nine seats. There have been no complaints of any violence from any of the polling booths," an election official told PTI. "There were also reports of EVM glitches in several polling stations. We have sent reserve EVMs to booths, where the voting process was temporarily hampered due to technical glitches," he added.

Punjab saw a polling percentage of over 31 per cent till 1 pm in 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab. Around 22.30 per cent voting turnout was registered in lone Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat till 1 pm, poll officials said.

Voting percentage in 13 constituencies ranged between 22 and 38 per cent. In the morning, there were some reports of technical glitches in EVMs at several places including Ludhiana, Samana and Moga.

Punjab's Chief Electoral Officer S Karuna Raju said eight ballot units, 13 control units, and eight voter-verified paper audit trail have been replaced. There were also reports of clashes between Congress and Akali-BJP workers in Talwandi Sabo in Bathinda and Gurdaspur. At Talwandi Sabo, Akalis alleged that shots were also fired by ruling party workers.

In Himachal Pradesh, 45.3 percent turnout was recorded in the first six hours of polling in four Lok Sabha seats where five MLAs including a state minister are among 45 candidates in the fray. EVM snags delayed voting at nine polling stations. Voting restarted after the nine faulty EVMs were replaced, a state election officer said.

In Madhya Pradesh, around 41 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 1 pm in eight Lok Sabha seats. However, voters listed at a booth in Agar Malwa district falling under the Dewas seat and five booths in Mandsaur seat boycotted the polling over their demands.

Efforts were on to persuade voters to exercise their democratic right, an official said. The official said around 12 people cast their votes at the polling booth in Dewas after being persuaded by election officials there.

Bihar witnessed an estimated 24.97 per cent of over 1.52 crore voters exercising their franchise till noon in eight Lok Sabha seats. An election official said that "going by reports that reached us from district headquarters, we have found out that the voting process was

temporarily hampered at few polling stations in Ara, Sasaram, Jehanabad, Pataliputr and Buxar. Officials have attended to the complaints and redressed all grievances," he said.

In neighbouring Jharkhand, an estimated 28.72 per cent of the total 45,64,681 voters exercised their franchise in three Lok Sabha seats.

Braving the summer heat, a large number of voters, including elderly persons and differently-abled voters, are seen in long queues in Dumka, Rajmahal and Rajmahal seat In the last phase of Lok Sabha polls, over 10.01 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise. The Election Commission has set up more than 1.12 lakh polling stations and has deployed security personnel for smooth conduct of polls.

An average of 66.88 per cent voters exercised their franchise in the last six phases. The whole elections were spread over 38 days. Counting of votes will be taken up on May 23.