Even as polling for the Lok Sabha elections began with the first phase on Friday, 19 April, it was marred by reports of booth capturing, firing, and violence in many states.
Over 102 parliamentary constituencies across 21 states and Union Territories witnessed polling in the first phase, including Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Manipur, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.
Voting was not smooth in many booths across Manipur, which has been embroiled in ethnic violence since May last year.
Miscreants opened fire at a polling station in Thamanpokpi in the north-eastern state's Moirang Assembly segment. The incident left three individuals injured.
Meanwhile, in Manipur's capital city Imphal, voters accused Arambai Tenggol, a Meitei radical outfit of capturing polling booths and casting votes in the place of others.
"How dare they deny me my right to vote," yelled a woman sitting at a polling booth in Imphal, as she alleged that members of the Arambai Tenggol, were capturing polling booths.
Violence Reported in West Bengal, Chhattisgarh
In West Bengal, which saw the highest voter turnout of 77.57 percent till 7 pm on Friday, BJP and Trinamool Congress workers accused each other of being behind the violence reported in the state on Friday, 19 April.
While BJP alleged that TMC supporters in Chandamari had pelted stones and injured the party's booth president, TMC claimed that their workers had been attacked by BJP workers in Sitalkuchi and Chotosalbari Gram Panchayats, according to a report by The Indian Express.
In Chhattisgarh's Bijapur, a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan has reportedly suffered injuries from a grenade cell blast on Phase 1 polling day.
However, polling concluded peacefully in Tamil Nadu, which saw a voter turnout of 72.09 percent. The state's chief electoral officer Satyabrata Sahoo said that voting proceeded peacefully throughout the state, with minor incidents reported. He added that though there were reports of glitches in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), but they were promptly rectified.
Meanwhile, six districts of Nagaland saw close to no polling in the wake of a “call to abstain” from elections called by the Eastern Naga People’s Organization (ENPO) on 18 April to press for their demand for autonomy.
According to a report by The Indian Express, even though the overall voter turnout Nagaland stood at 56%, Nagaland CEO R Vyasan said, “Going by the overall voter turnout, it appears not much voting has taken place in the region.”
Lok Sabha Election 2024: A Massive Exercise
The 2024 Lok Sabha elections is a massive exercise with voting to be held in seven phases across the country over the next six weeks (44 days), and concluding with the counting of votes on 4 June. The legislative Assembly elections for four states (Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, and Odisha) are also being held simultaneously.
A few of the key contenders who are in the running for Phase 1 are Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Kiren Rijiju, Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai, Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi, DMK leader K Kanimozhi, former Tripura CM Biplab Kumar Deb, and ASP's Chandrashekhar Azad 'Ravan'.
In these elections, Narendra Modi is not only eyeing a third straight term as prime minister but has also declared that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will cross the 400-seat mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha.
Meanwhile, the Congress and 25 other Opposition parties have joined hands to form the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) in an attempt to deny the Modi-led government another win.
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