New Delhi: The voting has shut in all Naxal-infested constituencies, and the voting in the remaining constituencies will end by 5 pm on Thursday.
In the first phase, polling has been held in 17 states, and 124 of the 543 seats in Parliament will be decided in it.
As the voting for the first phase of Lok Sabha polls began, several polling booths in Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh were attacked by the Naxalites. According to reports, 17 people may have been killed in the Naxal attacks.
The Naxals attacked at 12 locations in Dantewada, Latehar, Malkangiri and Rohtas districts. The attack at Rohtas was near the same place where the BSF camp was attacked on Wednesday - this time a polling booth has been attacked and the encounter is still on.
In Malkangiri, the Maoists blocked roads and cut off polling booths. They snatched voting machines at two booths in Dantewara, and six jawans were killed in a landmine explosion in Latehar.
They also fired at three places in Naraipur district, in Nellar, Sonarpur and Godavellu.
The states that went to the polls in the first phase included one seat in Jammu and Kashmir, 16 seats in Uttar Pradesh, 13 in Bihar, 6 in Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Chhattisgarh and some seats in Orissa, East Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep in the south, and three seats in Maharashtra in the west.
Chapra in Bihar is where Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad is contesting. It's an RJD stronghold. In 2004, Lalu Prasad had won with 51 per cent of votes. Bihar has a total of 40 seats - 13 of them are going to the polls on Thursday. Polling for the remaining seats are spread over the second, third and fourth phases.
Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh is one of the 16 seats in Uttar Pradesh going to the polls. Yogi Adityanath of the BJP won the elections from Gorakhpur in 2004, getting more than 51 percent of votes. U P has a total of 80 seats and polling in the remaining seats will be spread over the remaining four phases.
Varanasi is also among the 16 seats in Uttar Pradesh for which polling is being held. It was won last time by the Congress. Former human resources Minister Dr Murli Manohar Joshi is the BJP candidate from Varanasi, and he's locked in a three-way contest with the BSP and the Congress candidates.
Nagpur in Maharashtra is one the 13 seats in Maharashtra, where polling is on. Nagpur is located in the Naxal infested area of the state and it's a stronghold. It was won by the Congress in 2004.