Nearly 66 per cent voter turnout in phase 3 of LS polls: EC
New Delhi, Apr 23: Nearly 66 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the third phase of the Lok Sabha polls on Tuesday, the Election Commission said.
In the third phase, voting was held in 116 Lok Sabha seats, including all constituencies in Gujarat and Kerala, with BJP president Amit Shah, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and several Union ministers among prominent candidates in the fray.
Voter turnout in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections is 65.61 per cent till 8.00 pm, a mobile application launched by the EC said.
This was by far the biggest phase in terms of constituencies.
In the first two phases, election was held to 91 and 95 seats on April 11 and April 18 respectively. Election to 543 seats is being held in seven phases. The counting of votes will be on May 23.
The third phase of polls was marred with violence in West Bengal where a person was hacked to death in Murshidabad.
In Kerala, 11 deaths, all due to 'natural' reasons, were reported, Deputy Election Commissioner Sudip Jain told reporters here.
He said, out of the total 2.81 lakh ballot units deployed, 1593 were replaced. Similarly, out of 2.11 lakh control units, 1225 were replaced.
Of total 2.11 lakh paper trail machines, 4725 were replaced, Jain said.
He said this was by far the biggest deployment of paper trail machines since the concept was introduced after a Supreme Court directive in 2013.
"When a control unit or a ballot unit is replaced, the paper trail machines have to be replaced along with it. Thus the higher number of replacements," Jain said.
At least one control unit and one ballot unit make up for an electronic voting machine.
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BJP accuses Rahul of making false claim about rise in poverty, files complaint with EC
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Monday alleged that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is making a false claim about the rise in poverty in the country and urged the Election Commission to take “strict action” against him.
Lodging a complaint with the poll panel, the BJP also accused Gandhi of continuing to create a North-South divide in the country on the basis of language and region to vitiate the poll atmosphere.
A BJP delegation comprising its national general secretary Tarun Chugh and party's national media department in-charge Anil Baluni approached the EC, accusing Gandhi of running a false propaganda against the BJP amid the Lok Sabha elections.
“Rahul Gandhi is running a false campaign that 20 crore more people have become poor in the country while he doesn't have any evidence to back his claim,” Chugh told reporters after the BJP delegation lodged a complaint against the Congress leader with the EC.
He said that the Niti Aayog in its report has said that nearly 25 crore people have come out of the below poverty line during 10 years of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government in the country.
“The Election Commission assured us of taking strict action (against Gandhi) in this connection,” he added.
The BJP leader also alleged that the Congress has hatched a “disgusting conspiracy” to create a divide between North and South on the basis of language and region.
“We have lodged a complaint with the Election Commission against Rahul Gandhi in this connection. We told EC that he is a serial and habitual offender of spreading lies, hatching conspiracy and creating confusion. While the country is progressing, Rahul Gandhi is talking about dividing the country on the lines of language and region,” he said.
Chugh asserted that the BJP respects all the languages and it is proud of Tamil language.
“In our (Lok Sabha poll) manifesto, we have reiterated our commitment towards the promotion of Tamil language. But Rahul Gandhi’s actions are disgusting and they have potential to put the country’s internal security in danger,” he told reporters.
“We filed a written complaint with the Election Commission in this connection and also gave links of his speeches, demanding strict action against him,” he added.
