Lok Sabha Election: Voters showed enthusiasm in the celebration of democracy, with 68.29 percent voting in the first phase.

Voters participated enthusiastically in the biggest celebration of democracy not only in the country but in the world. The excitement of electing their new government was so great that people did not even care about the heat. In the first and biggest phase to elect the members of the 18th Lok Sabha, the fate of 1,625 voters was captured in the electronic voting machines with about 68.29 percent voting on 102 seats in 21 states and union territories. Last time, 69.43 percent of voting took place in the first phase. This time there has been about 1.14% less voting.

According to the Election Commission, till 7 pm on Friday, the highest voting percentage of 83.88 percent took place in Lakshadweep seat. After this, 82.15% of the voting took place in Jalpaiguri, Bengal and 81.62% of the voting took place in the Tripura West seat. An average of 80.55 percent of votes were cast on three seats in West Bengal. Apart from these, more than 70% of voting took place in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Puducherry and Sikkim. Bihar was the only state where less than 50% of voting took place. Manipur, which has been hit by violence for several months, recorded 72.17% voting. According to the Election Commission, there is a possibility of improvement in the voting figures till late night.

Sporadic violence in Cooch Behar, West Bengal, firing at some places in Manipur. In Chhattisgarh, a CRPF jawan died due to an accidental grenade launcher shell explosion, and an officer was injured in an IED blast in Bijapur.

People were seen standing in queues at many booths even after 6 pm. There were complaints of minor defects in EVMs at some centers in Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Assam, about 150 EVMs had to be replaced. In this election, the National Democratic Alliance under the leadership of Prime Minister

Narendra Modi is seeking a mandate to form the government for the third consecutive time, while the opposition alliance led by Congress is trying hard to come to power after ten years of exile. Most pre-poll surveys have predicted NDA's victory.

BJP and Trinamool supporters clash in Cooch Behar

Of the three seats in West Bengal, only Cooch Behar witnessed sporadic incidents of violence. Here supporters of BJP and Trinamool clashed with each other.

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Trinamool has filed 80 complaints against BJP supporters while BJP has filed 39 complaints.

BJP alleged that Trinamool men resorted to violence to stop their supporters from reaching polling stations.

Nagaland: Not a single vote was cast in 6 districts

Not a single vote was cast in six districts of Nagaland. Eastern Nagaland People's Front (ENPO) had boycotted the voting here demanding a separate state. There are more than four lakh voters in 20 assembly constituencies of these six districts, for which 738 polling stations were created.

Voting halted for some time due to conflict in Manipur

In the Manipur (Interior) seat, local people clashed with outsiders under the Thongju assembly. Due to this, voting had to be stopped for some time.

Vehicle carrying EVM drowns

EVMs were being taken in an SUV by boat to the Lakhimpur seat of Assam. The SUV drowned in the river due to a sudden rise in water level. The polling officer saved his life by jumping.

Jammu and Kashmir

Despite the rain, the enthusiasm of voters remained at its peak in Udhampur. 68.27% of votes were cast here.

First step, great response!

There is excellent feedback from today's voting. People across India are voting for NDA in record numbers.

- Narendra Modi, Prime Minister

Assembly elections: 76.44 percent voting in Arunachal and 79.86 percent voting in Sikkim

Itanagar/Gangtok. Voting also took place for 82 seats in the assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. There was enthusiasm among voters amid rain in Arunachal. Till 5 pm, 76.44% of votes were cast in 50 assembly seats here, while 79.86% of votes were cast in 32 seats in Sikkim. Elections have already been held unopposed on 10 seats of Arunachal.

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