Voters line up to cast vote in third phase of LS polls; EVM glitches reported

Complaints of EVM malfunctioning poured in from several booths on Tuesday during the third and largest phase of Lok Sabha polls which saw voters turning out in large numbers till afternoon to cast their vote in 116 seats, including all constituencies of Gujarat and Kerala.

BJP president Amit Shah, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and several Union ministers are in the fray in this phase.

As the polling began, Prime Minister Narendra Modi cast his vote at a booth in Ahmedabad and said the "voter ID" (identity card) was much more powerful than the "IED" (improvised explosive device) of terrorists.

BJP President Amit Shah, who is contesting LS polls from Gandhinagar seat in Gujarat, also cast vote at a polling booth in Ahmedabad.

Besides all seats in Gujarat (26) and Kerala (20), voting is underway in four seats in Assam, five in Bihar, seven in Chhattisgarh, 14 each in Karnataka and Maharashtra, six in Odisha, 10 in UP, five in West Bengal, two in Goa, and one each in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu and Tripura.

Voting in Tripura East constituency, which was earlier scheduled for April 18, is also being held, as also in a part of Anantnag LS seat in Jammu and Kashmir, where election is being held in three phases.

Voting is also being held in some Assembly constituencies of Odisha, Gujarat and Goa.

Though long queues were seen at many booths across the country, voting was yet to pick up in Jammu and Kashmir where less than five per cent of the 5.30 lakh electorate of Anantnag district in Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency exercised franchise in the first four hours of polling.

The overall poll percentage in Anantnag at 11.00 am was 4.79 per cent, an official spokesman said.

The polling so far has been peaceful in the militancy-infested district, police officials said.

In Kerala, long queues were seen outside polling booths with large number of women, senior citizens and first time voters among those who exercised their franchise