How was the first day of voting in India?

April 23, 2024 10:44 am

Voting for the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections in India took place on Friday. Only in West Bengal did the polls go fairly smoothly, barring some violence. Voting was held in West Bengal’s Cooch Behar, Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri.

A total of 102 constituencies in 21 states and union territories went to polls on Friday.

In yesterday’s election, the average voter turnout in India was around 60 percent, and according to the data provided by the Election Commission, the average voter turnout in the three constituencies of West Bengal was 66 percent till 3 pm. Among them are the North-Eastern states like Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, as well as states like Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Indian-administered Kashmir.

Tamil Nadu has also voted. It is the only state where polling is held on the same day for all the constituencies. Union Territories like Lakshadweep, Andaman-Nicobar Islands also voted on Friday.

According to the Election Commission, more than 16.5 crore people were supposed to vote in 200,000 polling booths on Friday. In the 2019 elections, the BJP-led NDA alliance won 41 seats while the Congress-led alliance won 45 of the constituencies where polls were held.

Among the Union Ministers who are contesting the polls today are Nitin Gadkari, Bhupendra Yadav, Kiren Rijiju, Jitendra Singh, Arjun Ram Meghawal, Nishit Pramanik, Sarbanand Sonwal. On the other hand, among the opposition leaders who have been nominated on the first day are Gaurav Gogoi of Congress, Kanimozhi of DMK.

Turmoil in West Bengal polls
All the three constituencies that went to polls on Friday are from North Bengal. Meanwhile, sporadic unrest started in the Cooch Behar constituency from Thursday night.

In the last West Bengal Assembly elections in 2021, the central security forces in charge of election security opened fire at Shitalkhuchi in this constituency. Five people were killed on the polling day.

This time, extra attention was on Cooch Behar. The district was once dominated by the Left Front, more specifically the Forward Bloc. After that Trinamool Congress took over the place. But the BJP has been a major force here for several years, the seat was won by the BJP in the last election.

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nisith Pramanik is contesting from this centre.

Local journalists are reporting that heavy bombardment has been going on since Thursday night in a village called Madhya Folimari. And on Friday morning, the police recovered several fresh bombs.

Again in Mathabhanga area Trinamool Congress workers were beaten up by BJP men, booths and camps were set on fire.

Trinamool Congress has again been accused of angering a BJP worker in Shitalkhuchi.

There have been reports of minor disturbances like beatings, scuffles, ‘kidnapping’ of a BJP booth agent between Trinamool Congress and BJP workers-supporters, but no major incidents have been reported till late afternoon.

On the other hand, the neighboring center of Jalpaiguri was quiet since morning. In the afternoon, when the BJP MLA from Dabgram-Phulbari constituency went to visit a booth, the security forces stopped him. There are reports that there has been a scuffle between the BJP workers and the police. The National Election Commission has sent a report on the incident.

In the afternoon, there was a second disturbance between the supporters of the two teams in that area.

In the third constituency, Alipurduar, however, polling was conducted peacefully.

468 complaints have been received from three constituencies in the office of Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal.

Shooting in front of the booth in Manipur

Unidentified persons opened fire in front of a booth as voting began for two constituencies in Manipur, which has been in turmoil for nearly a year.

Local media reports that the incident took place in a booth in Thamanpokpi area of Meirang. However, no casualty was reported. But the voters standing in the polling line quickly left the place as soon as the shooting started.

A video has gone viral on social media, where gunshots can be heard continuously for about 10 seconds.

News agency ANI shared a video of a polling booth in Manipur and quoted the Imphal East DC as saying that voting was stopped at a booth in Imphal after some women complained of election irregularities. Later, the election officer closed the booth, ANI reported.

Among the states that went to polls on Friday, Tamil Nadu was the only one to hold polls in all the constituencies in one day. The state has 39 Lok Sabha seats.

Film stars have always been very popular in South Indian states, some even superheroes.

Many Tamil Nadu film stars have joined politics. On the day of voting, seeing them in front of them is an additional attraction for the common people.