Incidents of violence in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and West Bengal headlined the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections today. In Madhya Pradesh capital, Bhopal, BJP workers were seen thrashing an Nationalist Congress Party worker at SDM office after he allegedly showed black flags to BJP candidate Pragya Singh Thakur during her roadshow. In Jammu and Kashmir, a National Conference polling agent was allegedly dragged and beaten up by PDP supporters at Bijbehara polling station. They allegedly hit him after he objected to bogus voting.
West Bengal has witnessed an impressive voter turnout with 78.97% of the electorate exercising their franchise. Tripura leads the states with an overall percentage of 79.64%. Assam and Chhattisgarh also witnessed impressive voter turnout at 74.05% and 64.02% respectively. Only 11.22 per cent of the electorate had cast vote in Jammu and Kashmir till 5pm.
Earlier today, three Trinamool Congress workers were injured after a bomb was thrown at them in Murshidabad. In Uttar Pradesh -- the state which sends the maximum number of lawmakers to the parliament, an polling officer was beaten up by BJP workers after he allegedly asked voters to press the 'cycle' symbol of Samajwadi party. Two senior citizens collapsed and died at a polling booth in Kerala's Kannur, news agency PTI reported.
Numerous complaints of malfunctioning of electronic voting machines (EVMs) were reported from Kerala, Assam and Goa. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan complained that election officials appear to have failed to ensure that the EVMs worked properly. "I myself had to wait for a while and I was told that the EVMs are not working. I am also told that this is the case in other places also," Mr Vijayan said shortly after voting in Kannur. An entire set of EVMs have been replaced in south Goa, news agency ANI reported quoting Chief Electoral Officer.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first prominent leaders who voted in the third phase. The power of voter ID is more powerful than a IED, he said after voting in Gujarat's Ahmedabad, where he arrived in an open jeep instead of a bullet proof vehicle. Shortly after casting vote, PM Modi walked down the streets showing his inked finger and addressed the media. "I believe the voter ID is more powerful. This shows the true strength of the masses," he said. Polling has been delayed in several polling booths in Assam after voting machines or EVMs reported problems.
Nearly 18.5 crore voters in Gujarat, Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Tripura and Union Territories Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu will decide who will represent them in the parliament for the next five years. The voting time for Phase 3 elections is from 7 am to 6 pm.
The presidents of two of India's biggest parties - the BJP and Congress -- are among the key candidates in the third phase. While BJP's Amit Shah is making his Lok Sabha election debut from Gujarat's Gandhinagar, Congress president Rahul Gandhi is contesting from Kerala's Wayanaud, which is his second seat apart from family bastion Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. Mr Gandhi has been served notice by the top court for comments involving a Supreme Court order on the Rafale fighter jet deal. Mr Gandhi had admitted yesterday that he had misquoted the Supreme Court after its ruling on the Rafale deal and said he had done it as "rhetorical flourish in the heat of political campaigning", without having seen, read or analysed the order.
Meanwhile, Bollywood actor Sunny Deol joined the BJP today, becoming the third member of his family -- after Dharmendra and Hema Malini -- to join the party. "I am following my father's footsteps. Just like he joined the AB Vajpayee government, I am joining the Modi government. Modi ji has done a lot for the country, and I feel he deserves to lead the nation for another 5 years," he said.
The seven-phase Lok Sabha elections started on April 11 and would conclude on May 19. Counting of votes will take place on May 23.