LS polls: 45 percent voter turnout recorded till 1 pm in 7 states

New Delhi: About 45 percent of the voters today exercised their franchise in the first six hours of polling in seven states and two Union Territories during the seventh phase of Lok Sabha elections that will decide the fate of political heavyweights like Narendra Modi, Sonia Gandhi, LK Advani, Rajnath Singh and Murli Manohar Joshi. Barring skirmishes in Punjab that left 10 persons injured, voting was by and large peaceful. [caption id=“attachment_1503335” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AFP[/caption] The whole of Gujarat with 26 seats and Punjab with 13 seats are among 89 constituencies went to polls today. An electorate of 13.83 crore voters are eligible to exercise to vote. Elections are already over in the first six phases involving 349 of the 543 constituencies. With today’s polling, 438 constituencies will be covered. Elections to the remaining 105 constituencies will he held on May 7 (64 seats) and 12 May (41). Telangana will elect its first assembly along with representatives to Parliament during the polls in 119 Assembly constituencies and 17 Lok Sabha seats in that part of Andhra Pradesh. In Gujarat, BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and party veteran LK Advani were among the early voters in Gandhinagar. Moderate polling of 37 percent was recorded till afternoon in Gujarat, where voting is underway for 26 Lok Sabha constituencies even as Modi’s home turf Vadodara witnessed a high turnout of 50.46 percent. Long queues were witnessed all over the state outside polling booths since early morning hours. People were found queueing up in front of the polling booths even before the polling started at 7 am. An impressive turnout of 55 per cent was registered till 2 pm in parts of Punjab, where 253 contestants are in fray for 13 Lok Sabha seats. However, minor clashes erupted between Akali Dal and Congress workers in Moga, Khadoor Sahib and Amritsar. At least ten persons were injured in a clash between Akali and Congress workers at Sangatpura village in Moga, officials said, adding, that police intervened and peace was restored in the area. Nearly 46 percent voters exercised their franchise till 3 pm in Uttar Pradesh, where polling is underway in 14 seats to decide the fate of 233 candidates. PTI