70.31 pc voter turnout in Haryana, compilation of figures still on

Over 70 per cent of Haryana's 1.80 crore electorate exercised their franchise in the polling for 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state on Sunday according to the data compiled till Monday morning, officials said.

The highest polling percentage was recorded in Sirsa parliamentary constituency (75.97 per cent), followed by Kurukshetra (74.36 per cent) and Hisar (72.16 per cent), while Faridabad (64.34 per cent) and Karnal (68.54 per cent) recorded comparatively less voter turnout.

"We are still in the process of compiling of figures. As per data available till Monday morning, the poll percentage recorded in Haryana was 70.31 per cent. However, this is likely to rise slightly when all the data is compiled," Haryana's Joint Chief Electoral Officer, Inder Jeet said on Monday.

In the 2014 general elections, the overall polling percentage was at 71.86, while in 1977, the voter turnout was 73.26 per cent. However, in 1999, 2004 and 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the turnout was under 70 per cent.

As many as 223 candidates, including two Union ministers and a former chief minister, are in the fray for the 10 seats in Haryana. Of the total candidates 11 are women.

Prominent candidates in fray included Union ministers Rao Inderjit Singh (Gurgaon) and Krishan Pal Gurjar (Faridabad) of the BJP, former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda (Sonipat), Kumari Selja (Ambala) of the Congress and JJP leader Dushyant Chautala.

Among the major parties in the fight are the BJP, the Congress and the INLD, which contested the 10 parliamentary seats independently. The JJP, which was formed after a split in the INLD six months ago, contested on seven seats while the remaining three seats were fought by its ally the AAP.

The BSP fought eight seats, leaving two for its ally the Loktantra Suraksha Party floated by rebel BJP MP Raj Kumar Saini.