Lok Sabha Phase 3 highlights: Overall voter turnout recorded at 66%

Voting for Lok Sabha polls 2019 phase 3 voting will decide the fate of 1,640 candidates. Catch India General elections 2019 live updates

Lok Sabha Elections 2019 LIVE updates: Voting in as many as 117 Lok Sabha constituencies took place across 14 states and Union Territories in Phase 3 of the 2019 general election. The third phase of the Lok Sabha polls saw an increase in polling till 5 p.m., with West Bengal registering the highest turnout of 78.94 per cent, and Anantnag in Jammu and Kashmir the lowest of 12.46 per cent. Over 64 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the third phase of Lok Sabha polls on Tuesday, the Election Commission said.

In the third phase, voting was held in 116 Lok Sabha seats, including all constituencies in Gujarat and Kerala, with BJP president Amit Shah, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and several Union ministers among prominent candidates in the fray..

According to the Election Commission (EC), the estimated turnout at 5 p.m. was 74.05 per cent for Assam, Bihar (54.95 per cent), Goa (70.96 per cent), Gujarat (58.81 per cent), Karnataka (60.87 per cent), Kerala (68.62 per cent), Maharashtra (55.05 per cent), Odisha (57.84 per cent), Tripura (71.13 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (56.36 per cent), Chhattisgarh (64.03 per cent), Dadra and Nagar Haveli (71.43 per cent) and Daman and Diu (65.34 per cent).
 

Amid complaints of EVM glitches, moderate polling was recorded in the first two hours of voting in 116 Lok Sabha seats, including all constituencies of Gujarat and Kerala, in which BJP president Amit Shah, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and several Union ministers are in the fray. As the polling began, Prime Minister Narendra Modi cast his vote at a booth in Ahmedabad and said the "voter ID" (identity card) was much more powerful than the "IED" (improvised explosive device) of terrorists.

BJP President Amit Shah, who is contesting the Lok Sabha election from Gandhinagar seat in Gujarat, also cast his vote at a polling booth in Ahmedabad.

Other key candidates include Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, who is contesting from Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh and Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) president Shivpal Singh Yadav from Firozabad. Supriya Sule, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar's daughter, is contesting from Baramati in Maharashtra. In Bihar, Adhikar Party-Loktantrik (JAP-L) chief Pappu Yadav is taking on RJD's Sharad Yadav in Madhepura. Puri is witnessing a triangular fight between BJD's Pinaki Mishra, BJP's Sambit Patra and Congress's Satya Prakash Nayak.

10:04 PM

Overall voter turnout recorded at 66% in phase 3 of Lok Sabha polls: EC

Nearly 66 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the third phase of the Lok Sabha polls on Tuesday, the Election Commission said.

 

This was by far the biggest phase in terms of constituencies.

9:15 PM

In first phase of staggered elections, Anantnag records 13.61% polling Srinagar

A voter turnout of 13.61 per cent was recorded Tuesday in the Anantnag Parliamentary constituency where polls are being held in three phases due to security reasons.

 

The Anantnag district of the constituency went to polls in the first phase, while voting in the Kulgam district of the constituency will be held on April 29 and in Pulwama and Shopian districts on May 6.

 

8:24 PM

UP records 60% voter turnout in 3rd phase of Lok Sabha election

Uttar Pradesh recorded a voter turnout of over 60 per cent in the 10 constituencies where polling took place in the third phase on Tuesday, election officials said.

 

Prominent UP leaders in the fray in this phase are four members of Samajwadi Party patron Mulayam Singh Yadav's clan, besides senior party leader Azam Khan and actor-turned BJP candidate Jaya Prada.

8:08 PM

64.66 voter turnout in phase 3 of Lok Sabha election

EC New Delhi, Apr 23 (PTI) Over 64 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the third phase of Lok Sabha polls on Tuesday, the Election Commission said.

 

In the third phase, voting was held in 116 Lok Sabha seats, including all constituencies in Gujarat and Kerala, with BJP president Amit Shah, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and several Union ministers among prominent candidates in the fray.

7:44 PM

Total voter turnout for phase 3 of Lok Sabha election 2019 is 63.24%

7:26 PM

Violence, EVM glitches mar third phase of LS polls in eastern, NE states

A man was Tuesday hacked to death outside a polling booth in West Bengal, amid the third phase of Lok Sabha elections in 21 seats across across five eastern and north eastern states, officials said.

 

Voting is also underway in 42 assembly constituencies in Odisha, along with the Lok Sabha polls.

 

According to the latest data available from the Election Commission, an estimated 61 per cent polling was recorded in Odisha, 78.97 per cent in West Bengal, 71.47 per cent in Assam, 54.91 per cent in Bihar and 77.28 per cent in Tripura.

7:24 PM

59% voter turnout till 5 pm in Gujarat

An estimated 59 per cent voter turnout was registered till 5 pm Tuesday for the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, where polling was by and large peaceful barring a few stray incidents, said officials.

 

In the 2014 polls, the total voting percentage was 63.6 per cent in the home state of PM Modi.

 

Barring a few incidents, the polling remained largely peaceful, said the officials.

6:51 PM

BJP, Congress did little to end poverty: Mayawati

BSP supremo Mayawati on Tuesday said the BJP and Congress governments did little to address issues of poverty and unemployment.

 

"Poverty and unemployment increased ever since the BJP came to power at the Centre. The Congress, too, has not kept its promises," Mayawati said while addressing an election meeting in support of SP-BSP candidate Manoj Agarwal here.

 

 

The BSP supremo further said the GST and demonetisation were initiated by the BJP government without any preparation, leading to poverty and unemployment.

 

"It also had an adverse impact on the country's economy," she said, adding that the BJP government misused the CBI and the ED to its advantage.

6:50 PM

Pawar, Chandrababu Naidu voice concern over EVM "manipulation"

People are in a mood to change the Modi-led government but manipulation of EVMs is the "only worrying factor", NCP chief Sharad Pawar said on Tuesday.

 

He was speaking at a joint media interaction addressed by leaders of the Congress, NCP, TDP, Trinamool Congress, AAP CPI(M), CPI and DMK.

 

 

"I have been to several constituencies. The people are in a mood to change (the government), they want a change both at the Centre and in the state. There is no question (about it)," Pawar said.

 

"Our only worry is someone misusing this technology to manipulate elections...Our worry is manipulation through these machines," Pawar said.

 

"EVMs are vulnerable to programming errors," TDP leader N Chandrababu Naidu said, adding that the BJP can get votes only through manipulation.

6:49 PM

Congress leader joins BJP in Ladakh

Congress leader Thukjey Dolma Tuesday joined the BJP in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, just a fortnight ahead of the Lok Sabha election in the constituency, a party spokesperson said.

 

Dolma, a prominent social worker and active member of the Congress, hails from Kardong area of Nubra valley. He joined the BJP in presence of state party president Ravinder Raina who is camping in Ladakh for election campaigning, he said.

6:31 PM

6:30 PM

We appealed to EC to bar Modi from campaigning for 48-72 hours: Abhishek Manu Singhvi

Today after casting his vote, PM took out a long procession & delivered a speech. There has never been such a clear violation of MCC, he is a habitual offender. We appealed to EC to bar him from campaigning for 48-72 hours, says Abhishek Manu Singhvi after a Congress delegation met Election Commission.

6:19 PM

Voting concludes in Assam's Dhubri

Electronic Voting Machines & VVPATs being packed at polling booth no.199 in Dhubri after voting concludes there

6:05 PM

Twenty-seven members of Pune family vote together

The motto of the Bhosale family from Pune's Rasta Peth area can be described as 'the family that votes together, stays together'.

 

Continuing a tradition, 27 members of the family voted in the Lok Sabha election Tuesday.

 

While the eldest among them was 95-year-old Parvatibai Bhosale, the youngest was her 26-year-old grandson Niranjan.

 

The family lives in a 'waada', a specimen of old-style architecture for which Pune was once famous. They walked to the nearby polling centre in a procession Tuesday morning.

 

"We are six brothers, and ours is a joint family. In every election we step out together and exercise our franchise," said 60-year-old Jaysingh Bhosale, himself a former corporator.

 

For the last few days, they were also creating awareness about importance of voting in their neighbourhood, he said.

 

The BJP's Girish Bapat, a state minister, is pitted against Congress' Mohan Joshi in Pune.

6:00 PM

BJP's Gautam Gambhir files nomination for East Delhi constituency

BJP's Gautam Gambhir files his nomination for the East Delhi parliamentary constituency.