NEW DELHI : Sixty-six per cent voter turnout has been recorded in the third and the largest phase of Lok Sabha election on Tuesday. Polling across 117 seats in 13 states and two Union Territories was marred by complaints of glitches in Electronic Voting Machines and violence in several states, in which a man died.

The whole of Gujarat and Kerala and half of Karnataka voted today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who cast his vote from Gujarat this morning, held a mini road show and made a political speech, for which the Election Commission has sought a report.

Briefing media in New Delhi, Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Umesh Sinha said, except minor incident, polling remain peaceful in this phase in 116 constituencies and Anantnag district of Anantnag loksabha constituency.

Mr Sinha said, out of 543 Lok Sabha constituency, polls concluded in 303 constituency. Mr Sinha said, people came out in a large number to exercise their rights to franchise. Tripura recorded highest 79.64 per cent voting followed by West Bengal 78.97 per cent.

Assam recorded 74.05 per cent, Kerala 73.06 per cent, Daman and Diu 73 per cent,  Dadar and Nagar haveli 71.43, Goa 70.90, Chhattisgarh 64.02 per cent, Karnataka 60.42 per cent, Gujarat 59 per cent, Bihar 60 per cent, Maharashtra 62 per cent, Uttar Pradesh 60.52 per cent and in Jammu and Kashmir 12.86 per cent voting was recorded.
64 per cent polling was recorded for both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Odisha as election were held simultaneously there. The prominent candidates in the fray in this phase include BJP President Amit Shah from Gandhinagar, Congress Chief Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad, Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav from Mainpuri, BJP’s Varun Gandhi and Jaya Prada, Azam Khan of Samajwadi Party, PDP President Mehbooba Mufti from Anantnag and NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule from Baramati.
In Bengal’s Murshidabad, a voter was hacked to death at a polling booth during a clash between the Congress and the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress. Several others were injured in clashes in other parts of the state as polling was held on five constituencies.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his 98-year-old mother and sought her blessings before casting his vote. He also held a mini roadshow and interacted with the people. “The weapon of terrorism is IED, the strength of democracy is voter ID. I can say with surety that the voter ID is much much more powerful than an IED,” he told the people.

BJP chief Amit Shah, who replaced LK Advani as the party nominee from Gandhinagar, is among the 370 candidates vying for the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat. All seats were won by the BJP in the last election, but the Congress, buoyed by their good showing in the 2017 assembly election, is ready for a tough fight.

Rahul Gandhi’s decision to contest from Kerala’s Wayanad is seen to have added zest to the Congress, which is locked in a battle with the ruling Left for the state’s 20 seats. The BJP is hoping to open its account in the state, piggybacking on the controversy over women’s entry to the Sabarimala shrine.
With this phase, polling will be over in six states and 302 of the 542 Lok Sabha seats. The rest of the seats will vote in the four remaining phases till May 19.(With Agency Inputs ).