Barring minor incidents, peaceful election: Election Commission at end of first phase

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Apr 11, 2019 : Voting in the first phase held on Thursday concluded peacefully barring minor incidents of violence, Deputy Election Commissioner Umesh Sinha said at the end of the day’s polling, Hindustan Times reported.

 

As many as 91 seats went to vote today across 20 states in the Lok Sabha elections with four states also going in for simultaneous Assembly elections.

“We thank the voters for coming out to vote in significant numbers. We would also like to thank the state machinery, security forces and nodal officers in various states for their support to ensure smooth polling,” the Deputy Election Commissioner said.

While voter turnout in Andaman and Nicobar Islands till 5 pm was all of 56 per cent, Chhattisgarh’s Bastar - the single seat in the state that went to polls on Thursday - witnessed a voter turnout of 56 per cent till 5 pm.

Telangana, for which this Lok Sabha election was the first since its formation, witnessed a voter turnout of 60.6 per cent.


In the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir, where voting took place on two seats - Baramulla and Jammu - the voting percentage was 32.29 per cent in Baramulla and 67.39 per cent voter turnout in Jammu.

Andhra Pradesh witnessed a total voter turnout of 66 per cent.

In the northeastern states, Sikkim, Mizoram and Nagaland, in which the elections were concluded in one phase, the voter turnout was, 69 per cent, 60 per cent and 78 per cent, respectively. In Manipur, the voter turnout was 78.2 per cent with Tripura clocked the highest polling at 81.8 per cent. Assam recorded a voter turnout of 68 per cent with West Bengal reporting a voter turnout of 81 per cent.

The second phase of polls is scheduled for April 18. Notifications for the first five phases of polls have already been issued, while the notifications for the other phases will be published on April 16 and April 22 respectively, the EC spokesperson said. The results for the general elections are due to be declared on May 23.

According to the Election Commission, a total of 7 Union Ministers are contesting the Lok Sabha elections this year. At least 6.7 crore female voters turned out to vote in the first phase while 6.9 crore male voters exercised their franchise.

The ruling BJP currently holds 32 of the 91 seats in which polling took place on April 11, the EC informed. Sixteen states are yet to begin polling and the electorate will cast their votes in the next few phases.