CHENNAI : Elections to 38 Lok Sabha constituencies in Tamil Nadu and bye-elections to 18 Assembly segments were largely peaceful, barring stray instances of violence and technical glitches. The polling percentage recorded for Lok Sabha elections is 70.9, lower than the 73.74 per cent recorded in 2014. The polling percentage in bypolls stood at 71.62. The figures are likely to be revised and updated on Friday.
Among the constituencies, Namakkal recorded the highest voter turnout of 79.75 per cent and Chennai South recorded the lowest turnout at 57.43 per cent. Kallakurichi, Karur and Chidambaram also recorded strong voter turnout of over 76 per cent.No major law and order issues were reported anywhere in the State. In Arakkonam, a CAPF jawan fired one round in the air to disperse a mob that allegedly tried to enter a polling station in Kilvisharam. “Vellore SP was rushed to the spot and the situation was brought under control,” said DGP (elections) Ashutosh Shukla.
Stray incidents of violence were reported in five places, including Gudiyatham and Ariyalur. In Kanyakumari, four BJP workers were injured in clashes with alleged workers of the Congress and DMK. The Congress had filed a complaint alleging that names of 1 lakh voters have been deleted from the electoral list in Kanyakumari.
Addressing the media after the elections, Chief Electoral Officer Satyabatra Sahoo said the complaint would be investigated. “A report would be sought from the DEO. However, the complaint does not mention in which booths the names were removed.”
Though there were stray cases of technical glitches in the voting machines, Sahoo claimed the overall numbers were less. “Totally, 375 ballot units, 228 control units and 766 VVPAT were replaced. Only 0.33 per cent total EVMs used were reported faulty. This means the EMV performance has been very good,” he claimed. Two elderly men died after casting their votes in Sivagiri (Erode) and Vedappatti (Salem). In Coimbatore, a 65-year-old man, who collapsed after emerging from a polling station, was rushed to a hospital where he was declared brought dead, and an 85-year woman died while standing in queue.
turnout 68%
95 constituencies went to the polls in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections
15% turnout in J&K’s Srinagar, the lowest, while the state’s Udhampur constituency saw 70% polling
Some incidents of violence, road blockades, bombings and police firing marred polling in the three Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal that recorded 76% turnout. Police fired in the air and burst tear gas shells to control a mob that threw stones at them in Raiganj constituency. Bombs were hurled in Chopra where the CPM candidate said his car was ransacked
Karnataka saw 68% turnout in 14 seats, with just 50% participation in Bengaluru. Turnout was 64% in Odisha’s five LS & 35 Assembly seats
57.2% polling in Maharashtra’s 10 seats. The three seats in Chhattisgarh saw an impressive 71% turnout amid tight security against Maoists
The five seats in Bihar saw 62.5% turnout, while Uttar Pradesh recorded 62% voting in eight constituencies
In Assam, turnout was 73.32% for five seats, while Manipur’s lone seat saw a 80% turnout amid isolated violence