Lok Sabha voting Phase 4 LIVE updates: An approximate voter turnout of 10.35% was recorded in the first two hours of polling on Monday in 96 constituencies spread over 10 states and Union Territories in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections amid complaints of EVM malfunctioning in West Bengal.
According to the Election Commission, Jammu and Kashmir witnessed the lowest voting percentage till 9 a.m. with 5.07% voters exercising their franchise, while West Bengal recorded the highest with 15.24%.
Urging people to vote in large numbers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it is everyone’s duty to strengthen India’s democracy. With Assembly polls also being held in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha alongside the Lok Sabha elections across the country, Mr. Modi appealed to voters to turn up at polling booths in record numbers.
Lok Sabha voting Phase 4 LIVE updates
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi also urged people to cast their votes in large numbers in the fourth round of the seven-phase Lok Sabha polls and help the INDIA bloc form government at the Centre.
Polling for Phase 4 of the Lok Sabha elections began at 7 a.m. on May 13. Voting will end at 6 p.m. In this phase, 96 seats in 10 States and Union Territories are going to the polls.
Andhra Pradesh (25), Telangana (17), Uttar Pradesh (13), Maharashtra (11), Madhya Pradesh (8), West Bengal (8), Bihar (5), Odisha (4) and Jammu and Kashmir (1) will also go to polls in this round of voting. Voters in Andhra Pradesh will also vote to elect their representatives for the 175-member State Assembly. Also, 28 Legislative Assembly seats in Odisha will go to the polls on Monday.
Lok Sabha voting Phase 4 LIVE updates: Prime Minister Narendra appealed to people, especially young and women electorates, to vote in large numbers to ‘strengthen our democracy’ as the Phase 4 polling of Lok Sabha elections gets underway across 96 seats spread across 9 states and a Union Territory.
All 25 seats of Andhra Pradesh and 17 seats of Telangana, 13 seats in Uttar Pradesh, 11 in Maharashtra, 8 in West Bengal, 8 in Madhya Pradesh, 5 in Bihar, 4 seats each in Jharkhand and Odisha and one seat in Jammu and Kashmir will go to polls in this phase.
Superstars Allu Arjun, Jr NTR & Chiranjeevi were among first people to cast votes in Phase 4 polling on Monday. About 10.4% voter turnout was recorded till 9 am across 10 states, the Election Commission said.
In Jammu and Kashmir, the voting is being held in Srinagar seat of Kashmir Valley. This is the first Lok Sabha election being held in Kashmir post the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. The BJP has not fielded any candidate in any of the three Lok Sabha seats of Kashmir valley. The seat recorded 5.07% turnout till 9am.
Voting begins at 7am and ends at 6 pm, the Election Commission of India, said.
So far, voting has taken place in 283 constituencies, about half of 543 Lok Sabha seats, in three phases held on April 19, 26 and May 7. The third phase of polling held on May 7 for 93 seats recorded 65.68 per cent voter turnout which is about 1.32 percentage points lesser than the turnout for the same seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Lok Sabha voting Phase 4 LIVE updates: As many as 1,717 candidates are in the fray in the 96 Lok Sabha seats voting today. The prominent candidates include, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav from Kannauj (Uttar Pradesh), TMC leader Mahua Moitra from Krishnanagar (West Bengal), cricketer-turned-politicians Yusuf Pathan and senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary from Baharampur (West Bengal), Union Minister Giriraj Singh from Begusarai (Bihar), YS Sharmila from Kadapa (Andhra Pradesh), Union Minister Arjun Munda from Khunti (Jharkhand), actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha from Asansol (West Bengal), Bandi Sanjay Kumar from Karimnagar (Telangana) and Asaduddin Owaisi from Hyderabad (Telangana).
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Over 17.7 crore people, including 8.97 crore men and 8.73 crore women, are eligible to vote in this phase. There are over 12.49 lakh registered 85+ years old voters too. Over 19 lakh polling officials have been deployed across 1.92 lakh polling stations where voting is taking place.
Voting is also being held for all 175 seats of Andhra Pradesh Legislative and 28 of 147 seats of Odisha Legislative Assembly of Odisha simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls.
The remaining three phases of polling will be held on May 20, May 25 and June 1. The counting of votes for all seven phases of Lok Sabha Elections will take place on June 4.