The second last phase of the Lok Sabha elections, today, witnessed encouraging turn out in the states of Seemandhra, West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh. Moderate turnouts were seen in violence prone Bihar and Jammu and kashmir.
In Amethi, where Rahul Gandhi is contesting, 50.66% polling was recorded at 5pm whereas in neighboring Sultanpur from where Rahul's cousin Varun is contesting, 53% voters had cast their votes. However, it was not without controversies. Allegations were made against Congress party leaders over possibility of poll riggings during the eight phase of the Lok Sabha elections, especially in Amethi. Images of Rahul Gandhi interacting with voters at polling booths while polling circulating the internet. Both the BJP and the AAP alleged that the Congress is trying to influence voters on election day. Read more
Over 76% of 36.76 million voters cast their votes to choose their representatives from 25 Lok Sabha and 175 assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh's Seemandhra region where high turnout and sporadic clashes marked Wednesday's balloting. Around 20 people were injured in clashes between activists of rival parties. Read more
Read also: Terming as "very cruel" the way bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh was done, YSR Congress Party president YS Jaganmohan Reddy today said that he has kept open all options on post-poll alliance
Other prominent contestants for the Lok Sabha were cabinet ministers and Congress leaders Kishore Chandra Deo (Araku) and Pallam Raju (Kakinada), YSR Congress honorary president YSVijayamma (Visakhapatnam) and former central minister D Purandeswari of BJP (Rajampet).
In Himachal Pradesh, almost 66% of the 4.8 million electors exercised their franchise where balloting for the four Lok Sabha seats was held peacefully Wednesday. The state had polled 58.43% in the 2009 polls while it was 59.71% in 2004. Read more
Uttarakhand registers 62% polling for 5 Lok Sabha seats.
Bihar, on the other hand, witnessed over 56% voting was registered today in seven Lok Sabha seats in the state, amid some violence that saw the death of one person in police firing outside a booth.
Sheohar registered 55.5% voting, Sitamarhi 54%, Muzaffarpur 61.92%, Maharajganj 53%, Saran 56%, Hajipur (SC reserved) 56% and Ujiyarpur 56%, the Election Office statement said. Read more
And despite conflict, Jammu and Kashmir, too, registered 49.98% for its two seats in Ladakh and Baramulla. Militants injured two Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel on Tuesday in Sopore. The attack took place as two constituencies in Baramulla District go to polls. Read more
The day ended with more controversy around Narendra Modi, with the BJP has alleging "partiality" in the denial of permissions for Modi's rally that were scheduled for tomorrow. Read more here
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