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general elections
College, Begusarai. Giriraj Singh had reportedly said
“Who don’t say Vande Mataram, can’t worship moth-
erland. My father and grandfather died by banks of
Ganga and did not need a grave. But you need three-
arm’s-length of land. If you don’t do it, the country will
never forgive you.”
Begusarai witnessed the highest turnout of 61.27
per cent, while Samastipur recorded 60.80 per cent,
Ujiarpur 60.56 per cent, Darbhanga 56.68 per cent
and Munger 55.38 per cent, Srinivasa said. “Polling
passed off peacefully with no incidents of any vio-
lence barring three incidents of poll disturbances at
four polling booths at different places in Munger Lok
Sabha constituency,” the CEO said.
In Jammu and Kashmir, less than nine per cent of
3.45 lakh electorate exercised their franchise in the
Kulgam district– part of Anantnag Lok Sabha con-
stituency — amidst stringent security arrangements
and isolated incidents of stone-pelting near polling
stations.
In Odisha, an estimated 64.05 per cent of the 95.06
lakh voters exercised their franchise in six Lok Sabha
Tehelka / 15 may 2019 15 www.Tehelka.com
election 2018
seats. The state also saw simultaneous polling in 41
assembly constituencies. Polling is not being held in
Patkura assembly seat, where voting will be held on
May 19 following the death of the BJD candidate.
Violence in West Bengal
West Bengal recorded a high turnout at 76.47 in the
eight seats though clashes broke out between sup-
porters of rival parties in Nanoor, Rampurhat, Nalhati
and Suri areas of Birbhum seat, leaving several people
injured.
In Barabani, BJP candidate from Asansol and Union
minister Babul Supriyo’s vehicle was vandalised alleg-
edly by TMC workers outside a polling station while
in Dubrajpur area central security forces personnel
reportedly opened fire in the air to disperse irate peo-
ple who attacked them when they were barred from
entering the booths with mobile phones.
An FIR was registered against Supriyo for allegedly
getting into an argument with polling officials, an
election official said. The ruling Trinamool Congress
and the BJP accused each other of intimidating vot-
ers in the state, which has seen violence in all previ-
ous three phases despite stepped up central forces
deployment.
The stakes are high for the BJP which had won 56
of the 72 constituencies in the 2014 polls. About 12.79
crore people were eligible for voting in the phase,
which marked the start of polling in Rajasthan and
Madhya Pradesh while elections came to an end in
Maharashtra and Odisha.
eVM glitches
The Congress made 30 complaints to the Election
Commission about alleged glitches in EVMs across
the 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra. A
majority of the complaints came in from Dhule and
Nandurbar, the party said, prompting ally NCP’s state
chief Jayant Patil to claim that something was “fishy”
in the two seats.
Complaints of technical glitches in EVMs and
VVPAT machines in some polling booths were
addressed in Maharashtra, an election official said.
In Uttar Pradesh, opposition Samajwadi Party’s
alleged that many EVMs malfunctioned and in Kan-
nauj, from where SP chief Akhislesh Yadav’s wife and
sitting MP Dimple Yadav is contesting, several party
workers were prevented from coming out of their
homes to vote.
In Kanpur, BJP workers allegedly tried to barge into
a polling booth and clashed with the police. A case has
been registered against BJP leader Suresh Awasthi
and six others in this connection, Kanpur District
Magistrate Vijay Vishwas Pant said.
Shahjahanpur (SC), Kheri, Hardoi (SC), Misrikh (SC),