The Legislative Assembly Elections for four states – Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim – will be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections, beginning today, April 11.
Out of these four, Odisha’s 147 constituencies will go to vote in four phases, starting today. The other three phases will be held on 18 April, 23 April and 29 April, respectively.
In Andhra Pradesh, two party workers, including one belonging to the ruling TDP, were killed in a clash today while technical problems in EVMs hampered the poll process in some booths, as 41 per cent polling was recorded till 1 pm for the 25 Lok Sabha and 175 Assembly seats. Chandrababu Naidu and his family members exercised their franchise at a polling station in Undavalli village in state capital region Amaravati.
His son Nara Lokesh, incidentally, is the TDP candidate from Mangalagiri Assembly segment that covers Undavalli.
Voter turnout in Arunachal Pradesh was 40.34 per cent till 1 pm
The counting of votes for all the four states will be done on May 23. Meanwhile, voting is underway in 91 Lok Sabha seats in 20 states and Union territories.
Here are some of the highlights of the first phase:
142 million: Size of electorate, which includes 7,764 third-gender voters
1,279: Number of candidates in the fray
7%: Share of women candidates
170,664 polling booths