LS Poll 1st Phase Concludes: 2 Persons Killed In Clash In AP
THE first phase of polling for constituting the 17th Lok Sabha involving 14 crore voters out of 90 crore and four state legislative assemblies concluded on Thursday, April 11, barring some technical glitches of EVMS and supporters of rival parties clashing in several polling booths. One ruling TDP leader killed in a clash with Opposition YSRCP activists in Andhra Pradesh’s Ananatpur.The first phase of Lok Sabha elections covered 91 Parliamentary constituencies spreading over 18 states and Union Territories of Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep . Simultaneously, voting was also conducted for assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and for 28 of 147 assembly seats in Odisha. It is the first Lok Sabha and assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh since the undivided southern Telegu speaking state has been split into Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Election Commission of India is considering re-polls in the booths where polling was vitiated. In some constituencies of Andhra Pradesh, activists of ruling TDP and the main opposition YSRCP were engaged in brawls impacting polling. The voting time in most of the constituencies was from 7 AM IST to 6 PM IST. However, in Left-Wing extremism-affected areas and North Eastern States, the timings vary. Voting was held in all parliamentary constituencies of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep and Uttarakhand. Polling was also held for some constituencies of Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Manipur, Odisha, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.In Meghalaya, voting for two Lok Sabha constituencies and by-poll to Selsella Assembly constituency was held. Voting process was completed in Andhra Pradesh (25 seats), Telangana (17 seats), Uttarakhand (5 seats), Arunachal Pradesh (2 seats), Meghalaya (2 seats), Nagaland (1 seat), Sikkim (1 seat), Mizoram (1 seat), Andaman and Nicobar Islands (1 seat) and Lakshadweep (1 seat). Other states which also went to polls are Uttar Pradesh (8/80 seats), Maharashtra (7/48 seats), Assam (5/14 seats), Bihar (4/40 seats), Odisha (4/21 seats), West Bengal (2/42 seats), Jammu and Kashmir (2/6 seats), Tripura (1/2 seats) and Manipur (1/2 seats) and Chhattisgarh (1/11 seats). Some of the key constituencies in the first phase of elections are Ghaziabad, Baghpat and Gautam Buddha Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, Nagpur and Chandrapur in Maharashtra, Tura in Meghalaya, Kaliabor and Dibrugarh in Assam, Arunachal West in Arunachal Pradesh, Gaya and Jamui in Bihar, Kalahandi and Koraput in Odisha, Hyderabad, Nizamabad and Nalgonda in Telangana, Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir, Bastar in Chhattisgarh, Cooch Behar in West Bengal, Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar and Garhwal in Uttarakhand and Visakhapatnam, Kurnool and Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh. Several prominent candidates are in the fray in the first phase of elections – Nitin Gadkari, Mahesh Sharma, VK Singh, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Daggubati Purandeswari, Chirag Paswan, Jitan Ram Manjhi, Harish Rawat, Nana Patole, Asaduddin Owaisi, Renuka Choudhary, Kalvakuntla Kavitha, Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, Gaurav Gogoi, Muhammad Akbar Lone, Kiren Rijiju and Ashok Gajapathi Raju. Voting across India will be completed in seven phases on May 19 results will be out on May 23. seven phases are April 11, April 18, April 23, April 29, May 6, May 12 and May 19.There was appreciable turnout of voters in Jammu & Kashmir defying poll boycott called by separatists and Maoists in Chhattisgarh.
