Elections 2019 Phase 3: 66% Voting In Phase 3, 1 Killed In Violence In Bengal: 10 Points

Lok Sabha elections 2019: With Phase 3, polling is over in six states and 302 of the 542 seats.

Highlights

117 seats across 13 states and two Union Territories voting
Amit Shah from Gandhinagar, Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad are star candidates
Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag voting in 3 phases, today is first phase

New Delhi: The third and largest phase of the national election witnessed a drop in poll percentage, with only 66 per people turning out to vote. Polling across 117 seats in 13 states and two Union Territories was marred by complaints of glitches in Electronic Voting Machines and violence in several states, in which a man died. The whole of Gujarat and Kerala and half of Karnataka voted today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who cast his vote from Gujarat this morning, held a mini road show and made a political speech, for which the Election Commission has sought a report. "I can say with surety that the voter ID is much much more powerful than an IED," he had said. The last of the seven-phase election will be held on May 19, the counting is scheduled for May 23.

Here are the top 10 points on Phase 3 of Lok Sabha Elections 2019:

In Bengal's Murshidabad, a voter was hacked to death at a polling booth during a clash between the Congress and the state's ruling Trinamool Congress. Several others were injured in clashes in other parts of the state as polling was held on five constituencies.
There were complaints of faulty electronic voting machines from parts of Kerala, Assam and Uttar Pradesh. "In today's digital India if there are so many malfunctions, it raises suspicion. So I would urge the EC to take note of these and investigate those involved in setting them up," Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav told reporters. Violence was reported from West Bengal's Malda.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his 98-year-old mother and sought her blessings before casting his vote. He also held a mini roadshow and interacted with the people. "The weapon of terrorism is IED, the strength of democracy is voter ID. I can say with surety that the voter ID is much much more powerful than an IED," he told the people.
Besides 26 seats in Gujarat and 20 in Kerala, voting is being held for four seats in Assam, five in Bihar, seven in Chhattisgarh, 14 each in Karnataka and Maharashtra, six in Odisha, 10 in Uttar Pradesh, five in West Bengal, two in Goa, and one each in Jammu and Kashmir and the Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
Ten seats of Uttar Pradesh, where polls are on today, will decide the electoral fortunes of several key leaders, including Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh, his nephews Dharmendra Yadav and Akshay Yadav, senior party leader Azam Khan and the BJP's Jaya Prada. The BJP had won seven of the 10 seats in 2014, while the SP bagged three.
The polling in Tripura East constituency, which was postponed in the last round by the Election Commission in view of the law and order situation, is being held in this phase.
In a first, election for a single parliamentary constituency in Jammu and Kashmir is being held in three phases. Today is the first phase of polling in the terror-hit Anantnag seat. Polling began on a dull note with most residents staying indoors in the first hour of voting. Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti is contesting from Anantnag.
BJP chief Amit Shah, who replaced LK Advani as the party nominee from Gandhinagar, is among the 370 candidates vying for the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat. All seats were won by the BJP in the last election, but the Congress, buoyed by their good showing in the 2017 assembly election, is ready for a tough fight.
Rahul Gandhi's decision to contest from Kerala's Wayanad is seen to have added zest to the Congress, which is locked in a battle with the ruling Left for the state's 20 seats. The BJP is hoping to open its account in the state, piggybacking on the controversy over women's entry to the Sabarimala shrine.
With this phase, polling will be over in six states and 302 of the 542 Lok Sabha seats. The rest of the seats will vote in the four remaining phases till May 19.