The polling has ended for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections across across 102 seats and 21 states and Union Terrorities and a voter turnout of nearly 63 percent was recorded in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections.
The Election Commission said the polling for the first and biggest phase of the seven-phase elections remained largely peaceful. However, the election was marked with sporadic violence in parts of West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Manipur.
As per the latest Election Commission, Tripura recorded the highest turnout of 80.17 per cent, followed by West Bengal at 77.57, Meghalaya 74.21 per cent, Puducherry 73.50 per cent, and Assam 72.10.
As the first phase of polling ended on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed confidence, stating that he has received exceptional feedback, indicating a substantial surge in support for the BJP-led NDA across India.
“First phase, great response! Thank you to all those who have voted today. Getting EXCELLENT feedback from today's voting. It's clear that people across India are voting for NDA in record numbers,” PM Modi said on X.
Meanwhile, voters in six districts of eastern Nagaland stayed indoors following an indefinite shutdown call by an apex body of tribal organisations to press for its demand for a separate state.
In UP, where eight seats in Western Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha went for polls, an average voter turnout of 57.54 per cent was recorded till 5 pm. According to the EC, till 5 pm, 63.29 per cent voting was reported in Saharanpur, 57.65 per cent in Moradabad, 58.68 per cent in Kairana, 58.05 per cent in Nagina, 60.23 per cent in Pilibhit, 54.68 per cent in Bijnor, 52.42 per cent in Rampur and 54.91 per cent in Muzaffarnagar.
In Chhattisgarh, 63.41 per cent voters cast their votes in the Naxal-hit Bastar Lok Sabha constituency where the CRPF jawan after the grenade accidentally went off while an officer was injured in an IED blast in another incident. The polling began across the country at 7 am and ended at 6 pm for most of the seats.