LIVE: Polling underway in 11 states on 95 seats; EVM glitches in Bihar, TN

In Tamil Nadu, polling is being held in 38 of the 39 Lok Sabha seats. Polling in Vellore Lok Sabha seat was cancelled Tuesday by the Election Commission following recovery of huge amount of cash allegedly from an associate of a DMK leader recently.

Anab Mehdi
Published on: 18 April 2019 3:42 AM GMT
LIVE: Polling underway in 11 states on 95 seats; EVM glitches in Bihar, TN
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LIVE: Polling underway in 12 states, voting pct falls below 1% in 4 states till 9am

New Delhi: Polling began Thursday morning for 95 Lok Sabha seats spread across 11 states and the union territory of Puducherry with Tamil Nadu witnessing contest in 38 constituencies.

Voting was also underway in 35 assembly constituencies in Odisha and in 18 assembly seats in Tamil Nadu.

Prominent faces in the fray in the Lok Sabha contest are Union ministers Jitendra Singh, Jual Oram, Sadananda Gowda and Pon Radhakrishnan; former prime minister H D Deve Gowda; DMK's Dayanidhi Maran, A Raja and Kanimozhi; Congress leaders Verappa Moily and Raj Babbar; National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and BJP's Hema Malini.

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Over 15.80 crore voters will decide the fate of the 1,600-odd contestants.

Besides Tamil Nadu, polling is being held in 14 seats in Karnataka, 10 in Maharashtra, eight in Uttar Pradesh, five each in Assam, Bihar and Odisha, three each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, two in Jammu and Kashmir and one seat each in Manipur and Puducherry.

LIVE updates:

-Voter turnout percentage till 11am: In Manipur, the voter turnout was recorded at 49.07%, while in Bihar's Kishanganj recorded 32%, Katihar at 31.82%, Purnia 31.82%, Bhagalpur 28% and Banka stood at 32.6%. Odisha registered 33% polling till 1pm.

-EVMs Ransacked in Raigunj: A tussle which broke out between BJP and TMC supporters in Chopra in Raigunj constituency led to EVM machines being ransacked in booth number 112.

-Sadhguru travelled 17 hours, all the way from the US, for one day, to cast his vote in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. After voting, he said, "May this immense privilege to decide who should conduct the governance of the nation not go in vain. I beseech every adult to exercise this responsibility to decide the future of the nation."

-Gujjupura villagers briefly boycott polls over absence of polling booth.

-CPI(M) MP Salim, whose car was pelted with bricks in Islampur, alleged that he was attacked by TMC goons with arms who were threatening the voters inside booths.

-Bulandshahar MP Bhola Singh was stopped at the entrance of a polling booth by security personnel as he was seen taking the blessings of voters inside the station. The matter is now under the EC's lens.

-West Bengal: Security personnel lob tear gas shells and lathi charge locals as they block NH-34 in protest after unknown miscreants allegedly prevented them from casting their votes at Digirpar polling booth in Chopra, in Islampur subdivision of North Dinajpur.

-Maharashtra: Polling has temporarily halted at booth number 217 in Solapur's Shastri Nagar due to fault in Electronic Voting Machine.

-Voter turnout percentage till 11am: Voting picks up in UP over 24 pc recorded by 11 am, in Manipur it was registered 32.18%, in #Bihar voter turnout was 18.97%, Assam at 26.39% Voter turnout, Odisha at 18%, in Karnataka it is 19.81%, West Bengal at 33.45% , in Srinagar stands at 6.4%.

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-Mumbai: Election Commission Flying Squad has seized Rs 11.85 lakh unaccounted cash in Sion area; More details awaited.

-Karnataka: Former Prime Minister and JDS leader HD Deve Gowda and his wife cast their votes at a polling station in Hassan's Paduvalahippe.

-Agra: UP Congress chief Raj Babbar and party's candidate from Fatehpur Sikri casts his vote at the polling booth in Radha Ballabh Inter College, for LS Polls 2019.

-Maharashtra: 105-year-old Kavaibai Kamble along with her family cast her vote at a polling station in Harangul Budruk in Latur constituency; Polling is underway at 10 parliamentary constituencies in the state.

-Maneka Gandhi reaches Sultanpur to register her nomination.

-Voting was interrupted at Polling Booth No. 46 of Govardhan Block in Mathura due of EVM glitches.

-Puducherry: Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi stands in queue to cast her vote.

- Congress flag spotted outside a polling booth in Katihar, Bihar; violation of Code of Conduct.

-A pregnant woman came to vote with husband in Solapur, Maharashtra.

-PM Modi urges voters to cast their precious votes in order to strengthen democracy,"Dear Citizens of India, Phase 2 of the Lok Sabha polls start today. I am sure all those whose seats are polling today will strengthen our democracy by exercising their franchise. I hope more youngsters head to the polling booths and vote!"

-Voter turnout percentage till 9am: 10 percent for 5 seats in Assam, one per cent for 2 seats in Jammu and Kashmir, 1.15 percent for 14 seats in Karnataka, 0.85 percent for 10 seats in Maharashtra, 1.7 percent for one seat in Manipur, 5 in Odisha 2.15 percent for seats, 0.81 percent for 38 seats in Tamil Nadu, for 8 seats in UP it is 4 percent, 0.55 percent for West Bengal's 3 seats, 1.62 percent in Puducherry and 7.75 percent for 3 seats in Chhattisgarh.

-90 year-old Urmila and Usha polled in Bhagalpur, Bihar.

-Jammu Kashmir: Newly weds come to cast their votes in Udhampur immediately after marriage.

-In Tamil Nadu, polling is being held in 38 of the 39 Lok Sabha seats. Polling in Vellore Lok Sabha seat was cancelled on Tuesday by the Election Commission following recovery of huge amount of cash allegedly from an associate of a DMK leader recently.

-The EC also announced postponement of polling in Tripura (East) Lok Sabha seat to the third phase on April 23, saying the prevailing law-and-order situation there is not conducive for holding free and fair polls.

Of the 95 constituencies, the AIADMK holds the maximum of 36 seats, followed by the BJP with 27 seats. The Congress had won 12 of these seats in 2014, the Shiv Sena and the BJD 4 each, the JD-S and the RJD two each and the AIUDF, the NCP, the JD-U, the PDP, the AINRC, the PMK, the CPI-M and the TMC one seat each.

The Lok Sabha polls are being held in seven-phases for 543 seats on April 11, April 18, April 23, April 29, May 6, May 12 and May 19, and counting will be on May 23.

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Anab Mehdi

Anab Mehdi

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