At least 10 people were reported killed and about 100 injured by the time polling ended on Monday in the third phase of India’s mammoth parliamentary elections.
Bomb blasts, violent clashes between political parties, drive-by shootings, landmine explosions and grenade attacks were reported in six of the 11 states that voted on Monday.
More than 172-million eligible voters had to choose 136 parliamentarians from among 1 278 candidates. They braved scorching summer temperatures of 43 degrees Celsius, torrential rain, poll boycott calls from Moslem militants and death threats from Maoists to exercise their franchise.
Voter turnout after Monday’s round was pegged at 60%, according to the state-owned Doordarshan channel.
The 11 states that voted were northern Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, central Jharkhand, southern Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, western Goa and Maharashtra, eastern Bihar and Orissa, and northeastern Assam and Manipur.
Polling was also held for state elections in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Orissa.
Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are critical states, with 80 and 40 seats each of 543 parliamentary constituencies. Uttar Pradesh is the country’s most populous state and also has the largest concentration of Moslems.
There was only sporadic violence in troubled Kashmir, where security was beefed up following calls for a poll boycott and shut down in the capital, Srinagar, by separatists.
”We are receiving good news from all over the country that people are turning up at polling booths to cast their votes. It is more heartening that people in large numbers are lining up outside polling booths in Jammu and Kashmir despite incidents of violent terrorist attacks,” Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said at a rally in the north-western desert state of Rajasthan.
”The people of Jammu and Kashmir want to assert their right of franchise, even putting their lives in danger.”
Monday’s initial exit polls revealed the gap between Vajpayee’s Bharatiya Janata Party and the main opposition Congress Party is narrowing.
But Indian exit polls are often very unreliable. The vastness and diversity of the electorate can undermine any sample survey.
Often voters, especially in villages and remote areas, prefer not to reveal their choices.
India’s first all-electronic elections are being held in five phases — April 20, 22, 26, May 5 and 10 — because of the large electorate of more than 670-million, security measures and deployment of election officials. The results are to be announced on May 13. — Sapa-DPA