New Delhi, 19 April

A voter turnout ranging from 16.33 per cent to 34.54 per cent was recorded in the initial hours of polling on Friday in phase one of Lok Sabha elections covering 102 seats across 21 states and Union territories amidst sporadic incidents of violence in West Bengal and an IED blast in Chhattisgarh that left a CRPF commandant injured.

Minor EVM glitches were reported at some booths in Tamil Nadu, Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Assam. Polling began at 7am and will end at 6pm. Election officials said the highest turnout till 11am was recorded in Tripura which saw 34.54 per voters casting their vote and the lowest in Lakshwadeep which saw 16.33 voting percentage.

West Bengal recorded a turnout of 33.56 per cent till 11 am. However, polling was marred by violence in the Cooch Behar seat.

Both the TMC and the BJP clashed and lodged 80 and 39 complaints against each other respectively related to poll violence, voter intimidation, and assaults on poll agents, sources from both parties said. In strife-torn Manipur, around 28.19 per cent of the over 15.44 lakh voters exercised their franchise till 11 am. Inner Manipur constituency recorded 29.40 per cent polling while the turnout in Outer Manipur was 26.02 per cent.

An altercation broke out between locals and unidentified persons in Thongju assembly constituency under the Inner Manipur Lok Sabha seat. In Chhattisgarh, more than 28 per cent of the electorate cast their votes in the first four hours of polling in the Naxal-hit Bastar Lok Sabha constituency where an assistant commandant of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was injured when an improvised explosive device (IED) planted by Naxalites went off in Bijapur district.

A CRPF jawan deployed on poll security duty was also injured when a shell of an under-barrel grenade launcher (UBGL) accidentally exploded in Bijapur district. In Tamil Nadu, where polling is spread over 39 constituencies, a voting percentage of 23.92 per cent voters was recorded.

Voting was delayed by an hour in some polling booths in the state such as the one near Tambaram due to technical glitches in the electronic voting machines. Arunachal Pradesh saw an estimated 19 per cent of the total 8,92,694 voters exercising their franchise.Though the turnout was moderate in the morning hours due to inclement weather, it gathered momentum with weather conditions improving.

In a few polling stations in the state, polling was delayed as the electronic voting machines (EVMs) developed technical snags which were later replaced, Chief Electoral Officer Pawan Kumar Sain said. Andaman and Nicobar Islands saw a voting percentage of 21.82 per cent.There were some minor EVM glitches but it was addressed immediately, officials said. Assam also reported EVM malfunctioning at three polling booths of Bihpuria in Lakhimpur, one each in Hojai, Kaliabor and Bokakhat, and one in Naharkatia of Dibrugarh, an official said.

"Most of the glitches were noticed during the mock poll, which started 90 minutes before the commencement of actual voting. Those glitches were rectified immediately. Voting started sometime late in those booths and now it is going smoothly," officials said.

The state saw a polling percentage of 27.22 per cent. Around 16.63 per cent of the 75 lakh voters in four Lok Sabha constituencies of Bihar exercised their franchise till 11 am.

Braving incessant rains, an estimated 22.62 per cent of voters exercised their choice in the first four hours of polling in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur parliamentary constituency. In Rajasthan, over 22 percent voting took place in the first four hours. The highest voter turnout of 27.70 percent took place in Ganganagar Lok Sabha seat while Jhunjhunu seat had the lowest turnout of 18.91 percent.

Uttarakhand saw over 24 per cent polling till 11 am. While Almora registered 22.21 per cent voting, Garhwal recorded 24.43, Haridwar 26.47 per cent, Nainital-udham Singh Nagar: 26.46 per cent Tehri Garhwal: 23.23 per cent.

In Maharashtra, a voter turnout of 19.4 per cent till 11 am while the six Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh recorded a voter turnout of 30.46 per cent.

Uttar Pradesh witnessed 25.48 per cent voting, Lakshwadeep 16.33, Meghalaya 33.12, Mizoram: 29.53

Nagaland 29.70, Puducherry 28.10, Sikkiim 21.20 and Tripura 34.54 per cent.

Over 16.63 crore people are eligible to vote in this phase. In the first phase, there are 35.67 lakh first time voters, besides 3.51 crore young voters in the age group of 20-29 years.

Counting of votes in the elections that will conclude on June one will be taken up on June 4.