New Delhi, April 23: More than 100 million people voted all over India in round two of one of the country’s most intensely fought parliamentary elections even as the Congress and its allies traded barbs over the leadership of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and the Left remaining bitterly anti-Congress.
An estimated 55 per cent of the 194 million electorate – of the country’s total 714 million voters – exercised their franchise in 140 constituencies in 12 states, from Jammu and Kashmir in the north to Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in the south.
“There is an average 55 per cent polling. It may increase,” Deputy Election Commissioner R Balakrishnan told reporters here.
Balakrishnan said the figures were tentative and there could be mild variations.
He said there were very few incidents of electronic voting machine (EVM) breakdowns. “In 34 polling stations in Andhra Pradesh we received reports of damage of EVMs. An inquiry will be conducted into it,” he said.
He also said about 27 constituencies were Maoists strongholds.
“The EC also acknowledges the tremendous job done by polling and security personnel,” he added.
The states which went to polls on Thursday were Andhra Pradesh (68), Assam (62), Bihar (44), Goa (55), Jammu and Kashmir (46), Karnataka (55), Madhya Pradesh (45), Maharashtra (56), Orissa (55), Tripura (80), Uttar Pradesh (44) and Jharkhand (47). A total of 2,034 candidates were in the fray. Despite the searing heat, there were long queues at most of the 2,22,350 polling centres.
Thursday’s balloting, the biggest of the five rounds, covers states that are important for all key contestants including the ruling Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and allies of both the Congress and BJP.
The Election Commission and local authorities said the 10-hour exercise passed off mostly peacefully although Maoist guerrillas continued their rampage in Jharkhand. But unlike in the first round of polling on April 16 when 19 people were killed, there were no fatalities this time.
Brisk voting also took place on Thursday for the last of the two-phase polls in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa to elect new assemblies.
The most high-profile constituency which went to the polls on Thursday was Amethi in Uttar Pradesh where Rahul Gandhi, son of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, is seeking re-election to the Lok Sabha. IANS
An estimated 55 per cent of the 194 million electorate – of the country’s total 714 million voters – exercised their franchise in 140 constituencies in 12 states, from Jammu and Kashmir in the north to Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in the south.
“There is an average 55 per cent polling. It may increase,” Deputy Election Commissioner R Balakrishnan told reporters here.
Balakrishnan said the figures were tentative and there could be mild variations.
He said there were very few incidents of electronic voting machine (EVM) breakdowns. “In 34 polling stations in Andhra Pradesh we received reports of damage of EVMs. An inquiry will be conducted into it,” he said.
He also said about 27 constituencies were Maoists strongholds.
“The EC also acknowledges the tremendous job done by polling and security personnel,” he added.
The states which went to polls on Thursday were Andhra Pradesh (68), Assam (62), Bihar (44), Goa (55), Jammu and Kashmir (46), Karnataka (55), Madhya Pradesh (45), Maharashtra (56), Orissa (55), Tripura (80), Uttar Pradesh (44) and Jharkhand (47). A total of 2,034 candidates were in the fray. Despite the searing heat, there were long queues at most of the 2,22,350 polling centres.
Thursday’s balloting, the biggest of the five rounds, covers states that are important for all key contestants including the ruling Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and allies of both the Congress and BJP.
The Election Commission and local authorities said the 10-hour exercise passed off mostly peacefully although Maoist guerrillas continued their rampage in Jharkhand. But unlike in the first round of polling on April 16 when 19 people were killed, there were no fatalities this time.
Brisk voting also took place on Thursday for the last of the two-phase polls in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa to elect new assemblies.
The most high-profile constituency which went to the polls on Thursday was Amethi in Uttar Pradesh where Rahul Gandhi, son of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, is seeking re-election to the Lok Sabha. IANS
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