Polling for 124 Indian LS seats continues; 7 killed in Jharkhand

Staggered polling began on Thursday for the first phase of Indian elections across 15 states and two union territories to elect a new Lok Sabha as also legislative assemblies in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa amid tight security. Striking for the second time in as many days in a bid to disrupt Indian Lok Sabha polls, Maoists today attacked a BSF bus, killing seven persons, including five BSF personnel, in Latehar district. A helper and the civilian driver of the bus were among those killed in the landmine blast in the area, about 125 kms from Ranchi, according to Deputy Commissioner Sarvendu Tathagat. The bus ferrying the BSF personnel from Ladhup to Arah was blown by the landmine blast triggered by the Maoists killing five BSF personnel, one helper and the civilian driver, the DC said. Voting began in 124 constituencies in the first round of the five-phase elections and would end at 1700 (IST) hrs in most places, except in naxal-infested areas.
Public canvassing for votes was prohibited 38 hours before the start of polling, but political and civil society activists continued to exhort voters to exercise their franchise. Over 14.31 crore voters are eligible to cast their votes across 1.85 lakh polling stations set up by Indian Election Commission and secured by tens of thousands of police personnel. While all 20 seats in Kerala, 11 in Chhattisgarh and two in Meghalaya are going to polls in a single phase today, polling would be held in 13 out of 40 seats in Bihar, 16 out of 80 in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra 13 (48), Andhra Pradesh 22 (42), Jharkhand 6 (14), Orissa 10 (21), Assam 3 (14), Arunachal Pradesh 2 (2), Manipur 1 (2) and Jammu and Kashmir 1 (6). Polling is also underway to 154 assembly segments in Andhra and 70 in Orissa. As many as 1,715 candidates, including 122 women, are in the fray in the first phase with the prominent names being RJD's Lalu Prasad, Murli Manohar Joshi of BJP and Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief K Chandrasekhar Rao. Prominent among those seeking elections to the lower house of Parliament are Union Ministers Praful Patel, Renuka Chowdhury, D Purandeswari, Santosh Mohan Dev, Meira Kumar, Rameshwar Oraon and E Ahamed and BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy, former UN Under-Secretary General Shashi Tharoor and south Indian actress Vijaya Shanti. As many as 1,715 candidates, including 122 women, are in the fray in the first phase. As has become customary, voters would be exercising their franchise through Electronic Voting Machines. Tight security arrangements have been made for the polls with Central paramilitary forces being deployed along with the security forces of the states. State borders have been sealed to prevent movement of criminal elements and liquor. Other phases of Indian Lok Sabha polls are due on April 23, 30 and May seven and 13. The campaigning was mostly peaceful but verbally violent with politicians making personal attacks. The highlight remains Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's retort to the repeated attacks by his BJP rival L K Advani, who had called him the "weakest", and Varun Gandhi's alleged hate-speech in the Lok Sabha constituency of Pilibhit.