 "Voters the clear winners in largest polling phase")
When the country’s 121 constituencies across 12 states went to polls on Thursday, people turned out in huge numbers to exercise their right of franchise and decide the fate of candidates in the fray. While every second elector in Madhya Pradesh came out to cast his or her vote for the 10 Lok Sabha seats where polling took place, West Bengal saw an overwhelming 80 per cent turnout in its four seats (up from 72 per cent in 2009). Manipur saw 70 per cent voting in its lone Lok Sabha seat that went to polls.
West Bengal
The state’s Cooch Behar constituency recorded the highest voter turnout, of 80.7 per cent, while Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar saw 75.9 per cent, 80.6 per cent and 79.4 per cent voting, respectively.
In 2009, the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) had won in Darjeeling, while the other three constituencies had gone to Left Front candidates.
Among the four seats, a special focus was on Darjeeling, where Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM)-backed BJP candidate S S Ahluwalia is up against TMC’s celebrity candidate and former footballer, Baichung Bhutia. Other prominent candidates in these seats included the Revolutionary Socialist Party’s (RSP’s) sitting member of Parliament Manohar Tirkey from Alipurduar and the Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s Mahendra Roy in Jalpaiguri.
Karnataka
Karnataka, where all the 28 seats went to polls, saw an average polling of 65 per cent. The political fate of 434 candidates, including 195 independents and 21 women, including five reserved seats for Dalits (from scheduled castes) and two for tribals (from scheduled tribes), were sealed in electronic voting machines.
While the Bangalore North constituency is the largest electorate, with 2.39 million registered voters, Udupi-Chickmagalur in the coastal area has the least number of voters (1.39 million). The highest number of candidates in the fray were in Bangalore Central (26), while Gulbarga reserved seat had the least (five).
Voters in the Koppa village of Sagar taluk in Shimoga district boycotted the polling, protesting shifting of the polling booth. Because of the sweltering heat, voters stayed away from polling booths across the state for most part of the day and brisk polling was reported only towards the evening and early hours in the morning.
Uttar Pradesh
In Uttar Pradesh, polling for 11 constituencies saw a 59 per cent voter turnout, with Muslim-dominated constituencies of Rampur (which has a 50 per cent Muslim population) seeing a lacklustre turnout. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati, silent so far, on Thursday asked voters not to waste their votes by dividing it between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP) because that would “ensure a BJP win”.
In her first overt pro-Muslim pitch, Mayawati warned that if BJP’s Narendra Modi were to become the prime minister, “the country would stand ruined with communal riots” akin to the one in Gujarat in 2002.
Bihar, Jharkhand, J&K, Maharashtra and Odisha
Odisha, where 11 seats went to polls, saw a nearly 60 per cent turnout. Similar were the turnouts in Jharkhand (six seats) and Maharashtra (19 seats). Bihar saw lacklustre polling for its seven seats, though the turnout was relatively high in Patna Saheb, where actor Shatrughan Sinha is contesting on a BJP ticket. Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur constituency recorded a turnout of 69.08 per cent, 24 per cent higher than the 45.15 per cent recorded in the previous polls.
On a day the biggest chunk of seats was going to polls, BJP President Rajnath Singh again ruled himself out of contest for the country’s top job. He again endorsed Modi as his party’s prime ministerial candidate.
West Bengal
The state’s Cooch Behar constituency recorded the highest voter turnout, of 80.7 per cent, while Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar saw 75.9 per cent, 80.6 per cent and 79.4 per cent voting, respectively.
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The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) has never won any of these seats and is making all efforts to get a foothold in the political landscape of this part of the state.
In 2009, the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) had won in Darjeeling, while the other three constituencies had gone to Left Front candidates.
Among the four seats, a special focus was on Darjeeling, where Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM)-backed BJP candidate S S Ahluwalia is up against TMC’s celebrity candidate and former footballer, Baichung Bhutia. Other prominent candidates in these seats included the Revolutionary Socialist Party’s (RSP’s) sitting member of Parliament Manohar Tirkey from Alipurduar and the Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s Mahendra Roy in Jalpaiguri.
Karnataka
Karnataka, where all the 28 seats went to polls, saw an average polling of 65 per cent. The political fate of 434 candidates, including 195 independents and 21 women, including five reserved seats for Dalits (from scheduled castes) and two for tribals (from scheduled tribes), were sealed in electronic voting machines.
While the Bangalore North constituency is the largest electorate, with 2.39 million registered voters, Udupi-Chickmagalur in the coastal area has the least number of voters (1.39 million). The highest number of candidates in the fray were in Bangalore Central (26), while Gulbarga reserved seat had the least (five).
Voters in the Koppa village of Sagar taluk in Shimoga district boycotted the polling, protesting shifting of the polling booth. Because of the sweltering heat, voters stayed away from polling booths across the state for most part of the day and brisk polling was reported only towards the evening and early hours in the morning.
Uttar Pradesh
In Uttar Pradesh, polling for 11 constituencies saw a 59 per cent voter turnout, with Muslim-dominated constituencies of Rampur (which has a 50 per cent Muslim population) seeing a lacklustre turnout. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati, silent so far, on Thursday asked voters not to waste their votes by dividing it between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP) because that would “ensure a BJP win”.
In her first overt pro-Muslim pitch, Mayawati warned that if BJP’s Narendra Modi were to become the prime minister, “the country would stand ruined with communal riots” akin to the one in Gujarat in 2002.
Bihar, Jharkhand, J&K, Maharashtra and Odisha
Odisha, where 11 seats went to polls, saw a nearly 60 per cent turnout. Similar were the turnouts in Jharkhand (six seats) and Maharashtra (19 seats). Bihar saw lacklustre polling for its seven seats, though the turnout was relatively high in Patna Saheb, where actor Shatrughan Sinha is contesting on a BJP ticket. Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur constituency recorded a turnout of 69.08 per cent, 24 per cent higher than the 45.15 per cent recorded in the previous polls.
On a day the biggest chunk of seats was going to polls, BJP President Rajnath Singh again ruled himself out of contest for the country’s top job. He again endorsed Modi as his party’s prime ministerial candidate.