Bhubaneswar: Despite the scorching heat across most poll-bound states, the phase II of General Elections witnessed an average of 20 per cent turnout by noon.
Figures coming in from various agencies indicate that most states - except Jharkhand - witnessed peaceful polling that began at 0700 hrs IST and will end by 1600 hrs IST.
Here's a roundup of the polling situation in all states:
MAHARASHTRA: 25 PC POLLING
Nearly 25 per cent of the electorate had cast their votes by 1300 hours IST on Thursday as polling proceeded peacefully in 25 parliamentary constituencies in Maharashtra, an election official said.
"The average voting was 14.4 percent till 11 am and a little above 25 percent by 1 pm. There have been no reports of any untoward incident from any part of the state during polling," said the official.
ORISSA: 15 PC POLLING
Up to 15 per cent turnout was reported on Thursday in Orissa in the first two hours of the second and final phase of polling in 11 Lok Sabha and 77 Assembly seats, officials said.
Said Additional Chief Electoral Officer Bhabagrahi Mohapatra, "The polling is going on peacefully."
Mohapatra said there were some complaints of malfunctioning of electronic voting machines (EVMs) but these were sorted out.
An electorate of more than 20 crore, including about seven crore women, will decide the fate of 84 candidates contesting the Lok Sabha polls and 688 in the fray in the Assembly elections.
The twin election is crucial for Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who has ended his alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and seeks to return to power in the state on his own.
Prominent among the BJP candidates contesting the Lok Sabha elections in the second phase are M A Kharabela Swain (Balasore), Ananta Nayak (Keonjhar) and Braja Kishore Tripathy (Puri).
Tripathy had resigned from the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) after being denied nomination and joined the BJP.
From the Congress, former central minister Srikanta Jena is contesting from Balasore and Ranjib Biswal from Kendrapada.
Among the key BJD candidates are industrialist-turned-Rajya Sabha member Baijayant Jay Panda (Kendrapada), Tathagat Satpathy (Dhenkanal) and Pinaki Mishra (Puri).
Next Page: 15 pc polling in Karnataka
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KARNATAKA: 29,000 BOOTHS, 15 PC VOTES CAST
Around 15 pc of about 20.6 million eligible voters had cast their ballot by 1100 hrs IST in 17 of the 28 constituencies in Karnataka in the first round of its two-phase polling on Thursday.
"About 15 voting has taken place across the state. The process has been peaceful. There have been complaints of names missing from a few places," said a state election official.
Voting is taking place in around 29,000 polling booths in the 17 constituencies. The process which began at 0700 hrs IST will end at 1700 hrs IST.
Among the early voters were Congress candidate in the prestigious Bangalore South constituency Krishna Byre Gowda, who takes on BJP general secretary H.N. Ananth Kumar seeking election for the fifth consecutive time.
About 20.6 million voters, including 10.3 million women, are eligible to vote to decide the fortunes of 271 candidates in the fray.
About 100,000 poll officials and 60,000 security personnel are on duty in 28,997 booths in the Bangalore South, Bangalore Central, Bangalore North, Bangalore Rural, Chikkodi, Raichur (Scheduled Tribe), Belgaum, Bijapur (Scheduled Caste), Gulbarga (SC), Bidar, Koppal, Bellary (ST), Uttara Kannada, Chitradurga (SC), Tumkur, Chikkaballapur and Kolar (SC) constituencies.
MADHYA PRADESH: 10 PC POLLING
About 10 per cent votes had been been cast by 1100 hrs IST for 13 of Madhya Pradesh's 29 Parliamentary seats amid tight security in the first of the state's two phase Lok Sabha elections, officials said.
The polling was so far peaceful and no untoward incident was reported, state chief electoral officer (CEO) J S Mathur said.
There were complaints of malfunctioning electronic voting machines (EVMs) from three places which were rectified immediately, he added.
ASSAM: MODERATE POLLING, PM CASTS VOTE
Moderate to brisk polling was recorded till noon for the second and final phase of Parliamentary elections in Assam.
A soldier of the Indian Army was killed and two wounded in an ambush by tribal separatists in Assam's North Cachar Hills district that had gone to the polls earlier.
Many people queued up in front of polling stations well before voting began at 0700 hrs IST Polling will end at 1600 hrs IST.
The VVIP voters in Assam included Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur who cast their votes at a polling station in Guwahati.
J-K: OFFICIALS OUTNUMBER VOTERS
Security personnel outnumbered voters at polling stations in the predominantly mountainous Lok Sabha constituency of Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir where the second of the five-phase Parliamentary polls was underway.
According to election officials, only five per cent turnout was recorded in the first three hours of polling, which began at 0700 hours (IST).
(Inputs from IANS, PTI)
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