Zee Media Bureau/Ajith Vijay Kumar
8:00 pm In Uttar Pradesh, voter turnout was 55.52% for 15 seats with Amethi recording a poll percentage of 54.24. In Jammu and Kashmir, 49.98% turnout. West Bengal witnessed an impressive turnout of over 81 percent.
Also Read: LS polls: 82 per cent polling recorded in West Bengal
Also Read: LS polls: 43 percent voters turn out in J&K
Also Read: LS polls: Over 56 percent voting in seven LS seats of Bihar
Also Read: LS polls: 62 percent polling in Uttarakhand
7:50 pm After Bengal, Andhra Pradesh registers record-breaking polling with 73.48% electorate casting their ballot. Uttarakhand saw high voter turnout at 62% votes cast.
7:20 pm The Election Commission official confirmed that poll percentage recorded in Bihar today is 58% and 65% in Himachal Pradesh.
Also Read: LS polls: Two-thirds vote in Himachal Pradesh
6:00 pm Bengal, till 5 pm, has registered record-breaking polling with 80.51% turnout, improving on its 2009 Lok Sabha elections polling percentage. The voting, however, was marred by few untoward incidents.
5:15 pm Nearly 75% polling registered in Bengal till 4 pm and Bihar sees 50.39% turnout till 4 pm.
4:40 pm Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi dismissed BJP`s PM candidate Narednra Modi as a non-challenge in Amethi. "Modi is a non challenge. There’s a long term relationship here and it‘s a deep relationship," Rahul said in Amethi.
4:20 pm Over half of Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal vote till 3 pm with turnout at 54.05% and 61.76%, respectively. In Bihar, 46.13% voters cast their ballot and Himachal Pradesh turnout was 49.14% till 3 pm. Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand saw voter turnout of 32.13% and 44% till 3 pm, respectively.
4:05 pm 40% voting in Amethi till 3 pm, overall 44.22% polling recorded in UP.
2:50 pm Narendra Modi telephoned TDP Chief N Chandrababu Naidu and enquired about the polling pattern in Andhra Pradesh, reports said. Polling is being held today in 175 Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha constituencies of Seemandhra.
1:50 pm Latest poll percentages: Seemandhra 41.56%, Bihar 36.18%, Himachal Pradesh 37.03%, Jammu and Kashmir 23.61%, Uttar Pradesh 32.09%, WB 48.03%, Uttarakhand 31.91% (All figures based on voting till 1 pm).
1:35 pm A war of words broke out between BJP candidate Smriti Irani and Priyanka Gandhi`s secretary Priti Sahay at a poll booth in Amethi. Smriti objected to Sahay`s presence in Amethi and had a heated argument with her, following which the Sahay left in a huff.
Later, the District Magistrate asked Sahay to leave Amethi immediately.
Read: After Smriti Irani`s complaint, EC asks Priyanka Gandhi`s PRO to leave Amethi
12:30 pm Election Observer Umesh Sinha has rejected allegations of `booth capturing` by AAP candidate Kumar Vishwas. “Have officers and observers at every booth. Not possible that booth capturing is being done,still complaints will be looked into,” he said.
11:55 am Poll percentages at 11 am: UP 25.18%, West Bengal 45%, Seemandhra 33%, Bihar 22.36%, Himachal Pradesh 22.91%, Jammu and Kashmir 14.50%, Uttarakhand 22.98%
11:20 am The intensity of the electoral battle in Amethi: Rahul Gandhi has objected to a lotus sketch seen drawn in a polling booth in the constituency.
10:45 am AAP candidate Kumar Vishwas has alleged that Mahmoodpur pooling booth was captured in Amethi constituency. He also claimed that no official acted on his complaint despite repeated pleas.
10:25 am Not wanting to take any chances as he faces a tough fight to retain Amethi, Rahul Gandhi is touring all parts of the constituency since early morning to entourage voters to cast their vote.
Rahul`s outreach has not done well with BJP`s Smriti Irani. She has accused the Congress leader of intimidating voters as he goes around the constituency in company of gun-totting SPG commandos.
10:15 am Latest polling percentages till 9 am: West Bengal 24%, Bihar 9.4%, UP 11.40%
9:50 am Amethi is voting in strength to chose between Rahul Gandhi, Smriti Irani and Kumar Vishwas. 10.4% voting has been recorded till 9 am in the constituency.
9:30 am SS Negi, first voter of independent India, casts his vote in Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh. "If I can vote at 97 years, then young people can too. I request all to vote," he said.
9:25 am Baba Ramdev and his close aide Acharya Balkrishna cast their vote in Hardwar. “Everybody should vote for the nation,” Ramdev said later.
9:15 am All our 40 candidates in Bihar will win, Hajipur will set new records again, says Chirag Paswan of LJP. His father and party chief Ram Vilas Paswan is the candidate from the seat.
9:05 am Grenade attack on a polling booth in Pahlan Pattan in Baramulla, 1 CRPF jawan injured. Ladakh is also voting in the last phase of polling in the state.
8:55 am Early trend: 4.5% voting till 8 am in Bihar
8:50 am Cricketer-turned-Congress`s Phulpur candidate Mohammad Kaif and his wife Pooja cast their vote. Other notables in the fray from Uttar Pradesh – other than those in Amthi – are Varun Gandhi, Rewati Raman Singh and Beni Prasad Verma.
8:45 am We stand a fantastic chance (of winning), says Babul Supriyo, BJP`s Asansol candidate. The noted Bollywood singer also alleged that the ruling party (Trinamool Congress) has done a lot of planning to capture booths.
8:30 am BJP candidate from Hamirpur, Anurag Thakur, expressed confidence of achieving a hat-trick from the constituency. “We will achieve a hat-trick in Hamirpur,just have to see how big the margin will be,”he said.
Thakur also took a dig at the Congress, saying that both Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka`s campaign shows sign of frustration.
8:25 am Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) challenger Kumar Vishwas says that there is no competition between him and others in Amethi. Congress stalwart Rahul Gandhi and BJP`s Smriti Irani are the other key candidates from the constituency.
8:10 am Rahul Gandhi hit back on Narendra Modi saying people`s actions can be lowly not their caste. Modi had earlier targeted Rahul`s sister Priyanka for accusing him of practising “neech rajniti”.
Also Read: People`s actions are low not their caste: Rahul Gandhi to Narendra Modi
7:45 am YSR Congress chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy was among early voters in Kadapa. Later, talking to reporters Jagan said that the most important issue is to safeguard the interests of people of the region.
Also Read: Will support anyone who gives our state a better deal: YS Sharmila
7:40 am The other key battleground is Seemandhra. With the Congress relegated to the sidelines, it is a straight fight between YSR Congress and the TDP-BJP combine.
The contest is believed to be evenly placed in most constituencies.
7:30 am While the Congress is fighting to retain its turf (won 34 of the 64 constituencies in 2009), the BJP aims to improve its tally of mere 4 seats of the 64 in last Lok Sabha polls.
The Narendra Modi-led campaign has worked hard to make gains in states like Uttarakhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
7 am: Polling began in 64 constituencies spr
Uttar Pradesh (15/80)
Constituencies: Amethi, Sultanpur, Pratapgarh, kaushambi, Phulpur, Allahabad, Faizabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Bahraich, Kaiserganj, Shrawasti, Gonda, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Bhadohi
Key Candidates: Rahul Gandhi (INC)- Amethi, Smriti Irani (BJP)- Amethi, Kumar Vishwas (AAP)- Amethi, Varun Gandhi (BJP)- Sultanpur, Shakeel Ahmed (SP)- Sultanpur, Rajkumar Ratna Singh (INC)- Pratapgarh, Shailendra Kumar (SP)- Kaushambi, Mohammad Kaif (INC)- Phulpur, Rewati Raman Singh (SP)- Allahabad, Shayama Charan Gupta (BJP)- Allahabad, Nirmal Khatri (INC)- Faizabad, Hari Om (BJP)- Ambedkar Nagar, Ram Murti Verma (SP)- Ambedkar Nagar, Shabbir Ahmed (SP)- Bahraich, Vinod Kumar (SP)- Kaiserganj, Brijbhushan Sharan Singh (BJP)- Kaiserganj, Vinay Kumar Pandey (INC)- Shrawasti, Atiq Ahmed (SP)- Shrawasti, Beni Prasad Verma (INC)- Gonda, Brij Kishor Singh (SP)- Basti, Ram Prasad (BSP)- Basti, Seema Mishra (SP)- Bhadohi
Uttarakhand (5/5)
Constituencies: Tehri Garhwal, Garhwal, Almora, Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar, Hardwar
Key Candidates: Saket Bahuguna (INC)- Tehri Garhwal, Mala Rajya Lakshmi Shah (BJP)- Tehri Garhwal, Dr Harak Singh Rawat (INC)- Garhwal, BC Khanduri (BJP)- Garhwal, Ajay Tamta (BJP)- Almora, Pradeep Tamta (INC)- Almora, Bhagat Singh (BJP)- Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar, K C Singh Baba (INC)- Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar, Renuka Rawat (INC)- Hardwar, Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishak (BJP)- Hardwar
Andhra Pradesh (25/42)
Constituencies: Araku, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, Anakapalle, Kakinada, Amalapuram, Rajahmundry, Narsapuram, Eluru, Machilipatnam, Vijaywada, Guntur, Narasaraopet, Bapatla, Ongole, Nandyal, Kurnool, Anantpur, Hindupur, Kadapa, Nellore, Tirupati, Rajampet, Chittor
Key Candidates: Kishor Chandra Deo (INC)- Araku, Kinjarapu Yerran Naidu (TDP)- Srikakulam, Botcha Jhansi Lakshmi (INC)- Vizianagram, Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati (TDP)- Vizianagaram, Y S Vijayamma (YSRCP)- Visakhapatnam, M Pallam Raju (INC)- Kakinada, Murli Mohan Maganti (TDP)- Rajahmundry, M Nageswara Rao (INC)- Eluru, Sistla Ramesh (INC)- Machilipatnam, Avinash Devineni (INC)- Vijaywada, Abdul Waheed Shaik (INC)- Guntur, Jayadev Galla (TDP)- Guntur, Chinta Mohan (INC)- Tirupati, A Sai Prathap (INC)- Rajampet, Naramalli Sivaprasad (TDP)- Chittor, B Rajagopal (INC)- Chittor
Bihar (7/40)
Constituencies: Sheohar, Sitamarhi, Muzaffarpur, Maharajganj, Saran, Hajipur, Ujiarpur
Key Candidates: Rama Devi (BJP)- Sheohar, Md Anwarul Haque (RJD)- Sheohar, Arjun Rai (JD(U))- Sitamarhi, Sitaram Yadav (RJD)- Sitamarhi, Bijendra Chaudhary (JD(U))- Muzaffarpur, Ajay Nishad (BJP)- Muzaffarpur, Manoranjan Singh (JD(U))- Maharajganj, Rajiv Pratap Rudy (BJP)- Saran, Rabri Devi (RJD)- Saran, Ram Vilas Paswan (LJP)- Hajipur, Aswamedh Devi Kushwaha (JD(U))- Ujiarpur
Himachal Pradesh (4/4)
Constituencies: Kangra, Mandi, Hamirpur, Shimla
Key Candidates : Shanta Kumar (BJP)- Kangra, Chander Kumar (INC)- Kangra, Pratibha Singh (INC)- Mandi, Ram Swaroop Sharma (BJP)- Mandi, Anurag Thakur (BJP)- Hamirpur, Virendra Kashyap (BJP)- Shimla, Mohan Lal Brakta ( INC)- Shimla
Jammu & Kashmir (2/6)
Constituencies: Baramulla, Ladakh
Key Candidates: Sharief-ud-Din Shariq (JKNC)- Baramulla, Md Hassan ( IND)- Ladakh, Tsering Samphel (INC)- Ladakh
West Bengal (6/42)
Constituencies: Jhargram, Medinipur, Purulia, Bankura, Bishnupur, Asansol
Key Candidates: Dr Pullin Baske (CPI)- Jhargram, Anita Hansda (INC)- Jhargram, Sandhya Roy (AITC)- Medinipur, Narahari Mahato (AIFB)- Purulia, Basudeb Acharia (CPI(M))- Bankura, Saumitra Khan (AITC)- Bishnupur, Sushmita Bauri (CPI(M))- Bishnupur, Dola Sen (AITC)- Asansol, Babul Supriyo (BJP) - Asansol
