The first phase of voting for the 18th Lok Sabha elections started taking place in 21 states and Union territories on Friday. Nearly 40% voter turnout was recorded till 1pm across the states. Seats in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Nagaland, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep and Puducherry go to elections on Friday.

There has been a substantial increase in the voter turnout charts across the Northeast states, with Tripura leading at 53.04% until 1 pm, as per the data released by the Election Commission of India. Other northeast states like Manipur (46.92%) and Meghalaya (48.91%) are also witnessing high voter turnout. After Tripura, West Bengal is experiencing a high voter turnout of 50.96%.

Chennai recorded an average voter turnout of 34% as of 1 pm on Friday. According data released by the Election Commission of India, Chennai (North) recorded 35%, Chennai (Central) recorded 32.3% and Chennai (South) recorded 34%.

Over 33% voter turnout was recorded in the first 6 hours of voting on Friday in 12 parliamentary constituencies of Rajasthan. According to the Election Commission, voting started at 7 am amid tight security arrangements and 33.73 % voting took place till 1 pm. The highest voter turnout of 40.72 % was recorded in the Ganganagar Lok Sabha seat while Karauli-Dholpur saw the lowest turnout of 28.32 %. Jaipur recorded a poll percentage of 39.35 %.

Over 37 % voter turnout was recorded till 1 pm in the Lok Sabha election being held for five parliamentary constituencies in Uttarakhand on Friday. Elections began at 7 am and the five constituencies recorded an overall poll percentage of 37.33 % up to 1 pm. The Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar seat recorded the highest turnout of 40.46 %, followed by Haridwar with 39.41%, Pauri Garhwal with 36.60 %, Tehri Garhwal with 35.29 % and Almora with 32.29 %.

Ahead of the upcoming general elections, the Union Home Minister Amit Shah submitted his nomination today from Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency. During his nomination, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhuperndra Patel accompained him.

Former deputy prime minister and BJP chief LK Advani, who earlier served as a representative of this seat during Shah’s successful run for re-election.

Soon after filing nomination, Shah said, today he has submitted his nomination from the Gandhinagar seat. He said it is a matter of pride for him that this seat was represented by the former Prime Minister  Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani and the seat where Narendra Modi himself is a voter. He also said he has been an MLA and MP from this seat for 30 years. The people of this region have given him immense love, Shah said.

With an astounding vote share of 69.67 percent in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Shah maintained the BJP’s stronghold in Gandhinagar with a resounding victory. Election turnout has been consistently high in the city.

In 1984–85, Amit Shah joined the BJP. His political skills and organizational prowess were recognized, and he soon became the national treasurer of the Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha.

Amit Shah’s political career took a significant turn in 1991.

Shah became the national president of the BJP in 2014, and he was promoted to the position of Home Minister five years later.

In the context of Indian politics, Gandhinagar is a historical landmark. The former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, won seats from Gandhinagar and Lucknow in the 1996 Lok Sabha elections. However, he decided to stay to his Lucknow seat, opening the door for other leaders to set their mark in Gandhinagar.

Meanwhile, Congress has fielded its party secretary Sonal Patel from Gandhinagar.

Gujarat is scheduled to go for a single phase of elections on May 7. The results of the election will be announced on June 4.

As soon as the first phase of the Lok Sabha elecrtions for three of West Bengal’s 42 seats began at 7 a.m. on Friday, reports of clashes between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Bhartiye Janta Party (BJP) began to circulate.

An argument between workers and supporters of the two bitter rivals at Chandmari, close to CoochBehar town, resulted in at least one injury. Reports of stone stone pelting also cirrculated.

Anant Barman, a local TMC functionary, was reportedly injured in a crude bombing at Bhetaguri and was admitted to the hospital. the state minister Udayan Gandhi, raced to visit Barman in the hospital.

All three seat, Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, and Jalpaiguri, where the first phase of voting is taking place today, were won by the BJP in 2019. 15.2% of voters in CoochBehar, 15.91% in Alipurduar, and 14.13% in Jalpaiguri turned up till 9:00 am for voting.

The BJP and TMC both charged that the other was intimidating voters, keeping them from going to the polls, and attacking poll workers. It is stated that temporary electoral offices were set on fire in places like Toofanganj in Cooch Behar and Dabgram-Fulbari in Jalpaiguri.

The majority of calls regarding voter intimidation and poll violence, according to a representative of the West Bengal governor’s office, came from Cooch Behar.

Five people were killed in April 2021 during Cooch Behar assembly elections, one of them was a first-time voter. There have also been reports of clashes between state minister Udayan Guha and union minister Nisith Pramajick’s supporters.

Meanwhile, for complaints regarding electoral violence, the BJP has established a helpline at its office in Kolkata. TMC officials reported that Abhishek Banerjee, the party’s national general secretary, was keeping an eye on the voting process from Kolkata.