Voting was largely smooth in the first three hours of polling in phase three, the biggest of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections for 117 parliamentary constituencies across 13 states and two Union Territories.

India is in the middle of a seven-phase elections to pick a new Lok Sabha. In 2014, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) finished ahead of the Congress in the seats which went to polls in the first and second phase, but was behind non-Congress, non-BJP parties. Parliamentary constituencies which will go to polls in each phase beginning today saw the BJP winning a majority in the 2014 elections.

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Here are the highlights of polling in Phase 3 of Lok Sabha Election 2019 :

1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi cast his vote in Ahmedabad, minutes after he urged all voters to come out and vote: “Your vote is precious and will shape the direction our nation takes in the years to come.”

Later, taking to the waiting mediapersons the Prime Minster said the Voter ID was the strength of democracy and much more powerful than a terrorist’s IED.

2. Glitches in Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) were reported from a few places in Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Bihar.

3. Tuesday’s polling will also mark an end to the electoral battle in southern India. With polling already complete in Tamil Nadu (except Vellore), Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, 20 seats in Kerala and the remaining 14 in Karnataka are going to polls on Tuesday.

Watch | Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Big fights to watch out for in Phase 3 of voting

4. At 11 am, voter turnout in Phase 3 of Lok Sabha polls stood at 23.82%. The voter turnout in Assam was 28.64%, 25.65% in Bihar, 28.49% in Goa, 28.47% in Gujarat, 4.72% in Jammu and Kashmir, 21.04% in Karnataka, 25.72% in Kerala, 17.26% in Maharashtra, 18.58% in Odisha,29.21% in Tripura, 22.39% in Uttar Pradesh, 35% in West Bengal, 27.29% in Chhattisgarh, 21.62% in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and 23.93% in Daman and Diu.

5. Less than five per cent of the 5.30 lakh electorate of Anantnag district in the Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency of Jammu and Kashmir exercised their franchise in the first four hours of polling Tuesday. The overall poll percentage in Anantnag at 11.00 am was 4.79 per cent, an official spokesman said in Srinagar, reported news agency PTI.

6. At 1 pm, voter turnout in Phase 3 of Lok Sabha polls stood at 37.92%. The voter turnout in Assam was 46.61%, 37.05% in Bihar, 46.36% in Goa, 39.27% in Gujarat, 9.63% in Jammu and Kashmir, 36.74% in Karnataka, 39.96% in Kerala, 32.01% in Maharashtra, 32.82% in Odisha, 44.76% in Tripura, 29.76% in Uttar Pradesh, 52.40% in West Bengal, 42.97% in Chhattisgarh, 37.20% in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and 42.99% in Daman and Diu.

First Published: Apr 23, 2019 11:24 IST

• Narendra Modi
• Lok Sabha Election
• Voting Updates
• BJP