Lok Sabha Polls 2019 - Phase 1: WB records highest voter turnout; truant EVMs dominate Andhra

The Lok Sabha elections began on Thursday with 1,279 candidates battling it out in 91 constituencies in the first of the seven-phase polls that will determine who will rule the country for the next five years.Along with the Lok Sabha polls, there will also be simultaneous elections to all the seats in the assemblies of Andhra Pradesh (175) and Sikkim (32) and Odisha (28 of the 147 seats).All the 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra, 17 in Telangana and five in Uttarakhand, eight out of 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh, seven out of 48 in Maharashtra and four out of 40 in Bihar are among the seats that go to polls in the first phase.Voters in five out of 14 in Assam, two out of five seats in Jammu & Kashmir, one out of 11 seats in Chhattisgarh and two out of 42 in West Bengal besides nine out of 11 seats in the Northeast barring Assam and one each seat in Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep will also queue up before polling booths.Catch all the live updates

Polling begins in 91 seats in phase one of LS polls

Polling began Thursday morning in 91 constituencies spread across 20 statesin the first phase of Lok Sabha elections.

Voting is also underway in 175 assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, 32 in Sikkim and 28 seats in Odisha.

Polling in all the Lok Sabha constituencies of Andhra Pradesh (25), Telangana (17), Uttarakhand (5), Meghalaya (2) and Arunachal Pradesh (2) besides lone seats in Mizoram, Tripura, Manipur, Nagaland, Sikkim, Andaman and Nicobar, and Lakshadweep is being held.

Eight seats in Uttar Pradesh, seven in Maharashtra, six in Bihar, five in Assam, four in Odisha, two each in Jammu and Kashmir and West Bengal and one seat in Chhattisgarh are also going to polls.

Voting for the 543 Lok Sabha seats isbeheld in seven phases: April 11, April 18, April 23, April 29, May 6, May 12 and May 19. Counting will be done on May 23.
(With inputs from PTII)

Phase 1 polling begins

Prime Minister Narendra Modi urges young and first-time voters to vote in large numbers

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat urges people to vote.

Seven seats of Maharashtra's Vidarbha region goes to polls today

Nearly 1.3 crore voters comprising 66.7 lakh males, 63.6 lakh females and 181 from ''others'' category will cast their vote for the following seats: Nagpur, Chandrapur, YavatmalWashim, GadchiroliChimur, GondiyaBhandara, Wardha and Ramtek.

Voting on 2 parliamentary constituencies in the Jammu and Kashmir is being held today. Voters queue up to cast their vote at polling booths 15 and 16 in Gandhi Nagar, Jammu.

Voters pose for photo after casting votes in UP

Visuals from polling station number 152 in Poonch (Jammu and Kashmir)

Voting starts for two Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal in the first place. Cooch Behar and Alipurduar seats goes to poll today

BJP polling agent allegedly beaten up in the Natabari area of Cooch Behar district.

Polling for 17 Lok Sabha seats in youngest state Telangana begins

A senior citizen at a polling booth in Vikarabad of Telangana

Former union Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju casts vote in Vizianagaram

Voting for 25 Lok Sabha and 175 Assembly seats begins in Andhra Pradesh

TDP, YSRCP booth agents spar at a polling booth in faction ridden Narsaraopet

EVM trouble reported from Krishna, Kadapa, Anantapur districts of Andhra Pradesh. Mock polling delayed.

APCC Chief N Raghuveera Reddy exercised his vote in Neelakanthapuram of Anantapur.

YSRCP Chief Jaganmohan Reddy and wife Bharati cast their vote in Pulivendula of Kadapa district

Jagan says people are looking for a change and is confident of a clear cut majority this time

Polling stalled in Jammalamadaga of Kadapa district in AP as EVMs refuse to work

Vijayawada MP candidate (TDP) Kesineni Nani casts vote in Gunadala,.

Voters being welcomed with a lot of fanfare in Baraut, Baghpat

Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu casts his vote

Long queue is seen in Aryan Public School, a voting Centre at Vasihali in Ghaziabad as voting began in the first phase of polls.

Visuals from polling booth number 97 in Bandipora, where voting is underway for the Lok Sabha Elections. ANI photo

AP CM N Chandrababu Naidu says he will file a review petition on thecounting of VVPAT slips; upset over delayed voting due to EVM troubles.

Guthi assembly segment Janasena candidate Madhusudan Gupta in police custody for slamming an EVM on the floor

92-year-old voter DN Sanghani, accompanied by his son and daughter-in-law, after casting their votes at a polling booth in Gondia in Maharashtra. ANI photo

Muzaffarnagar BJP candidate DrSanjiv Balyan: Faces of women in burkhas are not being checked and I allege that fake voting is being done. If not looked into, I will demand a repoll. Photo: ANI

TDP's Galla Jayadev after casting his vote

21% voter turnout recorded till 9 AM in the Nagaland parliamentary constituency

Polling in progress at a booth in Gaur City 2 area of Gautam Buddh Nagar constituency in Uttar Pradesh. Central minister Mahesh Sharma is seeking a re-election from this seat. DH photo

Voter turnout in Uttarakhand at 13.34% at 9 AM.

Statistics of the First Phase of Lok Sabha Elections

Seats: 91

Candidates: 1,279

Voters: 14,20,54,978

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Men: 7,21,53,244

Women: 7,21,53,244

Third Gender: 7,764

Number of Polling Booths: 1,70,664

Of the 1,279 candidates, at least 89 are women, according to ADR Speaks (after analysing affidavits of 1266 candidates in phase 1 of the polls

Reports say that 30% of EVMs in Andhra Pradesh not working. Voters found returning home unable to stand under thehot sun.

EVM glitches in many places as voting begins in Andhra

Voters queued up in considerable numbers at polling stations to exercise their franchise as voting to elect 175 Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha members in Andhra Pradesh began at 7 am Thursday.

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TDP and YSRCP activists clash, one injured in Mydukuru of faction-ridden Kadapa district. Trouble erupted in Jammalamadugu Gudem Cheruvu.

People queue at polling booth number 114 & 115 in Bandipora in Jammu & Kashmir, to cast their votes. Photo: ANI

85-year-old Choden Kazi (Right) after casting her vote in Arithang constituency of East Sikkim. DH photo.

Sumitra Rai, 107, the oldest voter registered to vote this election in Sikkim. The Mamleyresident would cast her vote in Kamrang secondary school polling station under Poklok Kamrang constituency.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari cast his vote at polling booth number 220 in Nagpur parliamentary constituency. Photo: ANI

Meghalaya CM Conrad K Sangma casting his vote in Tura constituency. DH photo

Polling percentages at 9 AM

Telangana: 10.6 percent

Andaman and Nicobar Islands: 5.83 percent

Assam: 10.2 percent

Arunachal Pradesh: 13.3 percent

Lakshadweep: 9.83 percent

Mizoram: 18.5 percent

West Bengal's Cooch Behar and Alipurduar district:18.1percent

Chhattisgarh: 10.2 percent

Manipur: 15.6 percent

Wardha (Maharashtra): 7.32 percent

Ramtek (Maharashtra): 4.70 percent

Nagpur (Maharashtra): 9.33 percent

Bhandara-Gondiya (Maharashtra): 5.29 percent

Gadchiroli-Chimur (Maharashtra): 8.48 percent

Chandrapur (Maharashtra): 5.10 percent

Yavatmal-Washim (Maharashtra): 55.03% percent

Aurangabad (Bihar): 6.80 percent

Gaya (Bihar): 13.00 percent

Nawada (Bihar): 5.00 percent

Jamui (Bihar): 5.87 percent

Medical facilities in place to handle any emergency at a polling booth in Guntur district. Photo: Doordarshan

11.43% polling in J&K till 9 AM

Amid boycott calls, militant threats and unprecedented security arrangements, the polling for the first phase of five-phase Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir began on Thursday.

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YSRCP says 102 EVMs not working in 45,920 polling booths in state

Villagers in Dantewada turnout in large numbers to cast their votes for Lok Sabha Elections. On 9th April, BJP MLA Bheema Mandvi and four PSOs lost their lives in a Naxal attack in Dantewada. Photo: ANI

The CEO, West Bengal's office received 462 complaintsregarding poll-related misconduct till 10 AM. Action has been taken in 436 cases, the Election Commission officials said.

Pawan Kalyan of Janasena expresses shock over 10% polling in AP, asks EC to take corrective measures to improve numbers.

Kashmiri Pandits in Udhampur cast their votes for Baramulla parliamentary constituency at a special polling station set-up at Municipal Town Hall. Photo: ANI

Supreme Court denies urgent hearing of a PIL seeking direction to the Election Commission of India to ask its election personnel to prosecute voters who indulge in electoral fraud.

100 year plus voter coming to cast his vote at PS 7 under 25AC Mokokchung District, Nagaland. DH photo.

N Chandrababu Naidu in aletter to CEC: It is likely that many voters who returned may not come back for voting even if polling is resumed after replacement/repair of existing EVMs.Therefore repolling is needed in all polling stations where polling had not commenced up to 9:30 AM: ANI

PWD minister says will retire if Modi becomes PM again

PWD Minister H D Revanna on Thursday said that he will retire from politics if Prime Minister Narendra Modi, re-elected as PM. He said the BJP will not come to power and JD(S)-Congress aim is to keep communal party away from the power and to protect the interest of the farmers.

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Narendra Modi in Bhagalpur, Bihar: NDA government's policy is clear: To remove terrorism and Naxals, we will give full freedom to the armed forces. On the other side, the adulterants are saying that they will take away the special powers given to the armed forces.

When Modi comes back again then their corruption will be completely finished, their dynastic politics will be finished, their loot in name of poor will stop, their politics of case and religion will stop,'tukde tuke gang bhi tukde tukde ho kar bikhar jaeyga' Photo: ANI

AP CEO Dwivedi says that 6 EVMs were damaged and all the accused have been booked. 12 minor incidents occurred outside the polling booths, FIRs will be booked

Out of the 344 issues reported from across the state, 319 were resolved and only 25 are pending.

Not a single vote has been cast in Kuwakonda block of Dantewada where BJP MLA Bhima Mandavi was killed in a landmine blast by Maoists.

IED blast by Naxals near a polling booth in Etapalli in Gadchiroli district, no injuries reported: ANI

A CRPF jawan extending helping hand to an elderly woman at a polling station in Gaya (Bihar).

Polling percentages at 11 AM

Nagaland: 41 percent

Mizoram: 29.8 percent

Telangana: 22.84 percent

Manipur: 35.03 percent

Uttarakhand: 23.78 percent in 5 parliamentary constituencies

Andhra Pradesh: 15 percent

West Bengal's Alipurduar: 43.20 percent

Lakshadweep: 23.1 percent

Maharashtra (7 seats): 13.7 percent

Jammu & Baramulla parliamentary constituencies: 24.66 percent

West Bengal (2 seats): 38.08 percent

Tripura (1 seat): 26.5 percent

Arunachal: 27.48 percent

Chhattisgarh's Bastar: 21.01 percent

Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh) : 25.60 percent

Kairana (Uttar Pradesh) : 24.00 percent

Muzaffarnagar (Uttar Pradesh) : 26.40 percent

Bijnor (Uttar Pradesh) : 25.10 percent

Meerut (Uttar Pradesh) : 21.80 percent

Baghpat (Uttar Pradesh) : 25.00 percent

Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh) : 22.40 percent

TDP worker Sidha Bhaskar Reddy dies in a clash between YSRCP and TDP in Mirapuram of Tadipatri constituency.

Laser, possibly by a sniper, pointed at Rahul: Congress

The Congress on Thursday alleged a security breach during party President Rahul Gandhi's visit to Amethi to file his nominations.

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Politicians flock to Dalit temples for votes in Bihar

At a time whenright-wing politics is on therise in the caste-ridden Bihar society, Dalits and Mahadalits have looked for their own symbols in the Hindu pantheon.

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Anti-BJP votes deleted all across India, says Arvind Kejriwal amid complaints that several names were deleted from voters' list.

"Dear EC, We have been reporting this to you for the last 1 year. But you said no votes deleted. Just because BJP was the behind all such illegal deletions? Now! What is this? A person living at the same address for 19 years is not able to vote. Why are you killing democracy?": Manish Sisodia.

ITBP personnel guard polling booth at Mendhar at Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir.

BR Tiwari, Addl. Chief Election Officer on Sanjiv Balyan's allegations of 'women in burkhas aren't being checked & fake voting is being done': "If a woman is in a veil, there are women officials who verify their identity & only then allow them to vote. No such incident has come to our notice." Photo: ANI

TelanganaCM K Chandrashekar Rao casts his vote at a polling booth in Siddipet district. Photo: ANI

Letter by Congress to Rajnath Singh over the alleged breach of security during Rahul Gandhi's visit to Amethi to file his nomination for Lok Sabha Elections

Polling percentages at 1 PM

Aurangabad (Bihar): 34.60 percent

Gaya (Bihar): 33 percent

Nawada (Bihar): 37 percent

Uttarakhand: 41.27 percent

Jamui (Bihar): 29 percent

Bihar: Average polling percentage in four constituencies going to poll today: 33.5 percent

Nagaland: 57 percent

Manipur: 53.44 percent

Uttarakhand (5 PCS): 41.27 percent

Mizoram: 43.38 percent

Telangana: 38.8 percent

Arunachal Pradesh: 40.95 percent

Andhra Pradesh: 46 percent

Lakshadweep: 37.7 percent

Uttar Pradesh: 38.78 percent

Assam: 44.33 percent

Tripura: 53.17 percent

Jammu and Kashmir (Baramulla & Jammu): 35.52 percent

Sikkim: 39.08 percent

UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on if she thinks PM Narendra Modi is invincible: "Not at all. Don't forget 2004. Vajpayee Ji was invincible, but we won." Photo: ANI

Modi inMangaldai, Assam: Can there be any compromise when it comes to national security and dealing with terrorist outfits? But unfortunately, the opposition wants to weaken the nation's security. Our armed forces displayed their might but the Congress is seeking proofs.

AP CEO Gopalakrishna Dwivedi: Don't believe rumours, elections are by and large peaceful. Only 382 EVMs were found troublesome, which is less than 0.5%. There is no need to extend the polling time

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis with his family after voting in Nagpur

Three dead, 9 injured as a tractor overturned near Shankarpur village in Gadchiroli when people were returning to their village after casting their votes. Photo: ANI

MHA says it has not received any letter on breach in security of Rahul Gandhi. On verification of reports, it says SPG Director informed that the 'green light' seen in the footage is that of a mobile phone used by AICC photographer.

MHA spokesperson says Director (SPG) has also informed Ministry that this position ('green light' is from a mobile phone used by AICC photographer) was conveyed to Gandhi's personal staff. Dir (SPG) has confirmed that there was no security implication whatsoever.

AP: 2 Killed in widespread violence during polls

A Telugu Desam party worker and a YSRCP activist died and many were injured after widespread violence broke out duringAssembly and Lok Sabha Polls in Andhra Pradesh on Thursday.

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Polling picks up in AP where truant EVMs and clashes delayed polling. Turnout reaches 46 percent.

Chandrababu Naidu appears on TV to appeal to voters who returned without voting to go back and use their voting right for the sake of democracy.

Polling percentages at 3 PM

Lakshadweep: 51.25 percent

Uttarakhand: 46.59 percent

Manipur: 68.90 percent

Nagpur (Maharashtra): 38.35 percent

Nagaland: 68 percent

Meghalaya: 55 percent

Uttar Pradesh: 50.86 percent

Arunachal Pradesh: 50.79 percent

Assam: 59.46 percent

Telangana: 48.95 percent

Tripura West: 68.65 percent

Mizoram:55.20 percent

West Bengal:69.94 percent

Sick poll officer evacuated using a ropeway

A sick polling officer was successfully evacuated using a ropeway. His replacement was sent down the slopes to Rangphlangpolling station under Mawkynrew AC East Khasi Hills District under Shillong Lok Sabha constituency.

First time voters show their finger marked with indelible ink, after casting their vote during the first phase of general elections, at Nagrota, in Jammu. (PTI Photo)

MoS Home Hansraj Ahir casts his vote in Chandrapur

Anti-BJP votes being deleted across India: Kejriwal

The Election Commission on Thursday came in for criticism following complaints about thedeletion of names from voters' list with AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal claiming that anti-BJP votes were being omitted across the country.

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Oppn parties complain of EVMs malfunctioning in J&K

Opposition parties in Jammu and Kashmir onThursday alleged that security forces were “coercing” people to vote for the BJP and that electronic voting machines (EVMs) in some places malfunctioned.

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Poll percentage till 5 PM

Bihar: 50.26%

Telangana: 60.57%

Meghalaya: 62%

Uttar Pradesh: 59.77%

Manipur: 78.20%

Lakshadweep: 65.9%

Assam: 68%

Watch LIVE: Press briefing by Election Commission

'Namo' food packs trigger row

The packets, coloured in a shade of saffron, had 'Namo Foods' emblazoned on top in Hindi. They soon started generating a buzz among curious onlookers.

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Soldiers Deployed in Siachen & LOC cast their votes

The Indian Army troops deployed in J&K fulfil their duty of being responsible citizens by participating in the democratic process. In a first-of-its-kind exercise, the Election Commission of India provided the facility to the troops deployed in far-flung, remote and inhospitable terrain to download their ballot papers online, vote and forward the ballot papers to their respective Electoral Returning Officers through the post. Braving the severe weather conditions and undeterred by the ceasefire violations the soldiers enthusiastically cast their votes for parliamentary elections; exhibiting the strength of the democratic process.

First phase poll percentage

Bihar: 50.26%

Telangana: 60.57%

Meghalaya: 62%

Uttar Pradesh: 59.77%

Manipur: 78.20%

Lakshadweep: 66%

Assam: 68%

Maharashtra:55.97 %

Jammu and Kashmir:57.31%

Chhattisgarh:57%

Andhra Pradesh:66%

Mizoram:60%

Arunachal Pradesh:66%

West Bengal: 81%