New Delhi, April 17 (IANS) An estimated 116 million people voted peacefully Thursday in the critical sixth round of parliamentary election to pick 121 MPs from 12 states, officials said.
Barring stray incidents of violence and intimidation, the gigantic exercise involving 1,767 contestants across the length and breadth of the country passed off smoothly, the Election Commission said.
"Polling was generally peaceful and incident free," Deputy Election Commissioner Vinod Zutshi said after 11 hours of hectic polling ended at 6 p.m. Only in Manipur, balloting finished two hours earlier.
Polling percentages varied from a high of around 80 in West Bengal to 54 in Madhya Pradesh.
"After today's phase, a large section of India has already voted," said BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. "People have voted in the heat and have voted for a strong government."
He added that the long queues of first-time and women voters "are positive steps".
Maoist guerrillas struck in Jharkhand, exploding a land mine at Bokaro in Giridih constituency and injuring four paramilitary troopers. They also blew up a school building and a rail track.
Allegations of voter intimidation came from parts of Bihar and West Bengal. The Election Commission ordered repolling in nine polling stations in Bihar.
Throughout the day, most of the 225,387 polling centres saw long queues of men and women of all age groups eager to vote. In most states, there was more voting compared to 2009.
Thursday's election covered a vast part of the Indian landscape -- from Jammu and Kashmir in the north to Karnataka in the south, from Maharashtra along the west coast to West Bengal in the east.
Polling took place in all 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka, 20 of the 25 in Rajasthan, 19 of the 48 in Maharashtra, 11 seats each in Odisha and Uttar Pradesh, 10 in Madhya Pradesh, seven in Bihar, six in Jharkhand, four in West Bengal, three in Chhattisgarh and one seat each in Manipur and Jammu and Kashmir.
Simultaneous balloting was held for 77 of the 147 assembly seats in Odisha and two assembly bypolls in West Bengal.
With Thursday's round, polling has been completed in 232 of the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha.
Thursday saw the largest number of Lok Sabha seats in contention on any one day since the staggered balloting started April 7. Four more rounds of voting are due until May 12. The result will be declared May 16.
Thursday was important both for the BJP and the Congress, which held 40 and 36 of the Lok Sabha seats that went to the polls, as well as the Janata Dal-United, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Janata Dal-Secular, Shiv Sena, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Aam Aadmi Party, Biju Janata Dal, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Trinamool Congress.
The BJP claimed it was confident of winning most seats contested Thursday.
"We are sure of winning all 25 seats (in Rajasthan)," Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje said in Jaipur.
Former central minister Ananth Kumar voiced confidence about the BJP's ability to do well in Karnataka, where it is the main opposition party to the ruling Congress.
Central ministers Sushilkumar Shinde and Jyotiraditya Scindia brushed aside the BJP's claims.
"There is no Modi wave," Scindia said after voting in Guna in Madhya Pradesh. Shinde said in Sholapur: "There is no Modi wave here, only Shinde wave."
Prominent candidates in the fray included Ananth Kumar and Nandan Nilekani (Bangalore South), Jaswant Singh (Barmer), Sachin Pilot (Ajmer), Ashok Chavan (Nanded), Misha Bharti (Pataliputra), Supriya Sule (Baramati), B.S. Yeddyurappa (Shimoga), Ghulam Nabi Azad (Udhampur), Maneka Gandhi (Pilibhit), Shatrughan Sinha (Patna Sahib), M. Veerappa Moily (Chikkaballapur), Sushilkumar Shinde (Solapur), V. Balakrishnan (Banglaore Central), and S.S. Ahluwalia and Bhaichung Bhutia (Darjeeling).
About 1.37 million staff oversaw the polling, watched over by hundreds of thousands of police and paramilitary personnel.
Not only did Alia Bhatt, 'Phool' of 'Laapataa Ladies' also reach Met Gala 2024, but the desi look of the actress went viral from the carpet!
Alia Bhatt is in the headlines for Met Gala 2024. The actress added charm to the event in a Sabyasachi outfit. On May 7, the actress remained in the news throughout the day. However, apart from her,
The facilities in the new aircraft coming for Modi, just like that on Trump's plane; From kitchen to the operation theater
When US President Donald Trump visited India in February, the most discussed was about his car and his plane. The plane Trump travels with is Airforce One. It is considered the safest aircraft in the
Covid-19: What was feared happened, more than 10 thousand deaths occurred worldwide due to Corona in December, this is the main reason
Cases of coronavirus infection are being seen increasing rapidly globally, especially due to the new variant of Corona JN.1, there are reports of the situation worsening in many countries. Another
Active case reduction after 2 months: 3.29 lakhs infected, 24.5 million recovered in 24 hours; The number of patients recovering for the first time in 62 days is more than the new patients
Relief came amidst the second wave of Corona in the country. On Monday, 3 lakh 29 thousand 379 new infections were identified, but 3.55 lakh infected were cured. This happened 62 days later when more
Oxygen Shortage: Delhi gets 700 tons of oxygen for the first time, CM Arvind Kejriwal told PM- Thanks
There is a piece of relief news in Delhi amid continuous oxygen shortage. The capital Delhi received 730 tonnes of oxygen for the first time from the Center on Wednesday. Regarding this, Delhi CM
Vikas Divyakirti Interview: ‘Now we will never work in the basement’, Vikas Divyakirti apologized; issued a statement
Dr. Vikas Divyakirti, the owner of Delhi's renowned coaching institute, Drishti IAS, broke his silence on the Old Rajinder Nagar incident. His first reaction came after the death of three UPSC
Governments must reach out to people in inclusive way: Obama
New Delhi, Jan 27 (IANS) US President Barack Obama Tuesday said that governments and leaders in this "modern age of communication" have to reach out to people in an "inclusive way".Addressing the
India Coronavirus Cases: In the last 24 hours, the number of infected has come down to 15,786, deaths have increased, Kerala's effect is visible
There has been a decrease in the new cases of corona reported in India on Friday. Another major reason for this is the occurrence of corona infections in the state of Kerala on the previous day.
CBIC: CBIC doubles the fine, and also amended the arrest and bail rules
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has amended the Prosecution, Arrest, and Bail Rules for offenses under the Customs Act. Under this, the fine has been doubled. Under the new
Weather Report: Heavy rain alert in UP and Bihar today, flood devastation in these two states, know today's weather
After absorbing many states of the country, now the monsoon has started showing its effect in the states of North India. In Himachal, Punjab, Jammu, Kashmir, and Uttarakhand, the speed of rain has
