Voting begins for third phase of Indian elections

Third phase ends with 50% turnout amid coalition talk

Zeenews Bureau

New Delhi, April 30: An estimated 50% of the 14.4 crore electorate on Thursday exercised their franchise in the third phase of LS polls, as the key contenders admitted that the country was irrevocably headed for another coalition government.
Even as the polls passed off by and large peacefully barring stray violence in Bihar and West Bengal, the key contenders for power admitted that the country was irrevocably headed for another coalition government.

Millions braved the heat in most parts of the country while Kashmiris defied death threats from Pakistan-based terrorists as 107 Lok Sabha seats across nine states and two Union Territories saw intense voting.

A total of 1,567 candidates were in the fray including Congress president Sonia Gandhi and LK Advani, the BJP’s choice of Prime Minister.

Polling also took place for the 32-member legislature in Sikkim, bordering China, which sends a single member to the Lok Sabha.

"The entire poll process was absolutely peaceful and extremely satisfactory," Deputy Election Commissioner R. Balakrishnan told reporters after the 10-hour exercise.

He said many voters stood in queues even after the scheduled close of polling at 5 p.m., patiently waiting for their turn. In the Gir forests of Gujarat, home to the majestic Asiatic lion, two officials trekked 20 km to reach a polling station where its only voter cast his ballot.

Initial estimates said nearly 50 percent of the 107 million electorate voted Thursday, taking the total number who have exercised their franchise in three rounds covering 372 Lok Sabha seats to 246 million. The rest of the 543 constituencies would see voting May 7 and 13 and the results would be declared May 16.

Political heavyweights

The electoral fate of political heavyweights Congress President Sonia Gandhi, BJP`s prime ministerial nominee L K Advani, former Prime Minister and JD(S) chief H D Deve Gowda, senior Left leaders Gurudas Dasgupta (CPI) and Basudeb Acharya (CPI-M) and senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh were decided in the third phase that covers 107 constituencies.

Even as men and women stood in winding queues in urban and rural areas, overseen by armed security personnel, M Venkaiah Naidu of the BJP and Jayanti Natarajan of the Congress admitted that no single party would get a majority in the Lok Sabha.

Advani claimed that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was confident of ending five years of governance by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

"I am sure the BJP will emerge as the single largest party and NDA as the biggest coalition in the Lok Sabha will form the government," he said after voting at Shahpur in Gujarat`s Ahmedabad (West) constituency.

Sonia Gandhi, who is also the UPA chairperson, is contesting from Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati was among the first voters in Lucknow, the state capital, and she claimed her party would bag most of the state`s 80 Lok Sabha seats.
Highest and lowest turnouts

The 14 constituencies in West Bengal, where the polling was held for the first time in this election, recorded the highest turnout of 64 per cent followed by Karnataka (57), Gujarat (50) and Maharashtra (45 per cent).

The turnout in Mumbai, the country`s financial hub, was estimated at 45 per cent as the metropolis witnessed the first election six months after the November 26 terror attacks.

The lowest turnout of 25 per cent was in Anantnag constituency in Jammu and Kashmir where the separatists had called for given a poll boycott call.

With the completion of the third phase, the voters have given their verdict in 372 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats. Two more phases are to be held on May 7 and 13 before counting of votes is taken up on May 16.

The voters` response in the first two phases was at around 60 per cent.

The polling in the elections to the 32-member Sikkim assembly drew a 64 per cent turnout.

The third phase saw completion of the polling process in Gujarat, where 26 Lok Sabha seats are up for grabs, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Sikkim, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.

In Uttar Pradesh, where 15 constituencies went to poll today, the voter turnout was put at 45 per cent while Bihar`s 11 constituencies, which put to test the newly-stitched alliance of RJD and LJP, registered 48 per cent response.

Polling in Naxal areas

Maoists exploded a landmine near a booth at Biramdih in West Bengal`s Purulia district, injuring two Central paramilitary force jawans.

Twelve people, including a policeman, in skirmishes between rival groups in Bihar. Police fired in the air when voters tried to storm three booths at Forbesganj and Araria Lok Sabha constituencies.

Notwithstanding the call for poll boycott by Maoists, polling in Naxal-hit areas was by and large peaceful, Additional Director General of Bihar Police (Headquarters) said.

Voters did not turn up in 23 polling stations under Dharara police station where Maoists gave a poll boycott call.

Low turnout of voters was reported in 1,000 booths in Maoist-infested Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapore districts of West Bengal. Pro and anti-poll activists clashed in Purulia.

Thirteen per cent turnout was recorded in 49 booths in troubled Lalgarh where booths were shifted from areas in accordance with the agreement reached with tribal leader Chhatradhar Mahato whose organisation resisted police entry into their areas for the last six months.

Coalition talk

Even as the polling progressed, both the BJP and the ruling Congress -- the country`s two main parties but lacking the strength to govern on their own -- said the election would lead to another splintered Lok Sabha.

"It is going to be a coalition. It is very clear," BJP`s M. Venkaiah Naidu declared, echoing a point made by political pundits even before the start of campaigning in March.

But that did not deter Advani from claiming that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was confident of ending five years of governance by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

With two rounds of polling yet to be completed, BJP and Congress strategists are already engaged in efforts to mop up possible allies in the event they emerge as the single largest party in Parliament.

With IANS inputs

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