Over 29 per cent voters exercised their franchise in 18 parliamentary constituencies spread over 20 districts in Uttar Pradesh till 1 pm.

29% turnout in Uttar Pradesh till 1 pm

Press Trust of India

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi will campaign for DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance in Tamil Nadu for two days from tomorrow for the May 13 Lok Sabha polls.

Rahul Gandhi to campaign in TN

Promised ORS packets and tents, voters and election officials alike in the capital did not even have basic amenities like drinking water to help them tide over the scorching summer heat during the day.

Voters, poll officials sweat water out in national capital

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said the turnout in Srinagar Parliamentary seat should act as an eye-opener for separatists groups especially Hurriyat Conference who have been playing a politics of fear.

Hurriyat poll boycott call due to militants' threat: Omar

In a rebuff to separatists, moderate polling was today witnessed in most of parts of the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency, with 10 per cent of the 11 lakh electorate exercising their franchise till noon.

Moderate voting in J-K despite separatists' boycott call

The Left parties may not be a reckoning electoral factor in the national capital but senior CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury today said despite the odds the presence of CPI candidate was a &quot;happy&quot; thing.

Yechury happy with Third Front presence in Delhi

Around 29 per cent of the 1.1 crore electorate turned up today at polling booths across the national capital till one pm to exercise their franchise in the Lok Sabha elections.

29% voting in Delhi till 1 pm

Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister of Bihar who is being wooed by the Congress, today clearly disapproved of the talk that Narendra Modi could be the future BJP candidate and said that the &quot;Gujarat blot&quot; of 2002 riots &quot;can never be erased&quot;.

Nitish disapproves of Modi as PM

Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh today hinted at a possible tie-up of his party with Congress in the post-poll scenario &quot;for the sake of secularism&quot;.

We may be forced to look at Congress: Amar Singh

Chief Election Commissioner Naveen Chawla today downplayed incidents of violence witnessed during the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, saying they have been &quot;pretty minimal&quot; as compared to the huge polling exercise.

CEC downplays violent incidents during polling

An estimated 55 per cent of total 52.75 electors exercised their franchise till 1600 hours in Punjab where the polling to four Lok Sabha seats was marred by stray incidents of violence in which six persons, including four Congress and one Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) supporter, were injured in the state.

55% polling in Punjab

With his senior party colleague Sitaram Yechury making ambiguous remarks over Rahul Gandhi's overtures to Left parties, CPI(M) chief Prakash Karat today said the Left parties were working to form a non-Congress secular government at the Centre.

Left parties working to form non-Congress secular govt: Karat

The unsolicited service was done by the Election Commission.

EC also performs instant sex change operations!

Business Standard

Barring stray incidents of violence at Barnala in which five persons were injured and one Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) worker received bullet injuries in arm at Patiala, the polling to the four Lok Sabha seats, including the hyper-sensitive Bathinda and Patiala, today passed off peacefully with around 65 per cent of total 52.75 lakh electorate exercising their franchise braving the hot conditions.

65% turnout in Punjab; polling peaceful

With nearly 20 per cent of the 11 lakh electorate exercising their franchise till two hours before the close, moderate polling was today witnessed in most parts of the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency.

J&K sees 20% turnout, moderate polling

Delhi today witnessed a moderate turnout of 50.03 per cent in the seven Lok Sabha constituencies, marking a dip of around 8 per cent from the Assembly elections six months back.

Delhi witnesses 50% turnout

At least four persons were killed -- three of them in West Bengal and one in Rajasthan -- as stray violence, police firing and booth-capturing attempts marred the fourth phase of polling in Lok Sabha elections which saw a turnout of 57 per cent of nearly 95 million voters.

57% turnout in fourth phase of polling, 4 killed

Barring a few scattered incidents of violence reported in several districts of West Bengal, the second phase of elections has been largely successful with more than a 70-75 percent voter turnout across the 17 Parliamentary Constituencies, said Debasis Sen, chief electoral officer, West Bengal.

Bengal records 70-75% voter turnout in Phase II polls

There is an average increase of 557 per cent in individual assets of eight prominent Lok Sabha candidates in Himachal Pradesh, since they contested the elections five years ago, according to a study.

Himachal candidates richer almost five times

The strange thing about this general election is that the voter does not know what kind of government s/he is voting for, for all party alignments seem transient. What the country gets at the end of the exercise could therefore be a government that no one wished for, or anticipated&mdash;much like the Deve Gowda government of 1996 (the then chief minister of Karnataka had not even stood for parliamentary election).

Melting pot of alliances

Imagine the irony: The man responsible for conducting the biggest elections in the world almost never got to vote. When Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla went to vote, he found his name did not figure in the electoral rolls. It seems Chawla wanted his name, and that of his wife and daughter, to be listed in the polling booth in Nirman Bhawan, which houses various government offices. Their names, however, were part of the voters&rsquo; list in another booth and not at Nirman Bhawan.

CEC gets to vote, just about

Lok Sabha Elections News: Get the latest news and updates on Lok Sabha election in 2024. Stay tuned for Special Reports, Videos & Photos of General Elections 2024 on Business Standard.

Lok Sabha Elections News, General Election 2024 News, Election Photos and Videos | Business Standard

Get the latest news and updates on Lok Sabha election in 2024. Stay tuned for Special Reports, Videos & Photos of General Elections 2024 on Business Standard.

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