Over 54 pc voting on five LS seats in Uttarakhand in first phase of LS polls

    Dehradun, Apr 19 (PTI) A voter turnout of over 54 per cent was recorded in the five parliamentary constituencies of Uttarakhand where polling was held in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Friday, a drop of around five percentage points compared to the 2019 general elections.
    The voter turnout in Uttarakhand in the 2019 general elections was over 61.48 per cent.
    The election authorities said 54.22 per cent of the electorate cast their votes. The final figures would be released later as data from some polling stations takes time to reach and it does not include the data of voting by postal ballots, they said.
    The Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar seat recorded the highest voter turnout of 59.99 per cent, followed by Haridwar 59.12 per cent, Tehri Garhwal 51.74 per cent, Pauri Garhwal 49.93 per cent and Almora 45.39 per cent.
    As many as 55 candidates are in the fray. Polling began at 7 am and ended at 5 pm.
    Voting across the state was peaceful. However, people in some rural pockets of the state boycotted the polls over developmental issues like lack of roads.
    Eight villages in Chamoli which comes under the Pauri Garhwal Lok Sabha seat and at least half a dozen villages, including Machul, Matiyali, Saipolu and Malla Ghorpatta, under the Almora constituency boycotted the polls.
    Their main grouse was a lack of approach roads. Efforts were made to persuade them to vote but they refused, Chamoli District Magistrate Himanshu Khurana said.
    Long queues were not seen at polling station in Dehradun with a poll official explaining that the number of booths has been increased this time which is why the polling stations did not look overcrowded.
    Polling was peaceful but an elderly voter at a polling booth in Haridwar threw the EVM on the ground damaging it partially. He was detained and let off after a few hours as he was said to be mentally ill, a police official in Haridwar said.
    Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami was among the early voters in the state. Along with his mother and wife, Dhami arrived at the Nagra Terai polling station in Khatima and cast his vote.
    Talking to reporters, the chief minister said there was great enthusiasm among people.
    "Uttarakhand has seen unprecedented development in the last 10 years. All sections of the society have benefitted from it. They will vote to give a third straight term to (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi," he said.
    Dhami also spoke of the BJP's "Sankalp Patra" which talks about the need for a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the country, on the lines of the one passed by the Uttarakhand Assembly. "The Ganga of UCC that has originated from Uttarakhand will flow through the country," he said.
    Former chief minister Harish Rawat said the Congress will win all five seats in Uttarakhand as people have voted for a change.
    BJP candidate from Haridwar and former chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat cast his vote along with his wife and two daughters. He exuded confidence about winning the seat by a margin of more than five lakh votes.
    Among the other prominent people who cast their votes were yoga guru Ramdev and his aide Acharya Balkrishna. The duo voted at the Dadubagh polling station in Kankhal around 10 am.
    Ramdev told reporters that he has voted for heritage-based development and culture-based prosperity of the country. "I have voted to free India from economic, educational, medical and cultural slavery," he said.
    The BJP's national spokesperson and Pauri Garhwal candidate Anil Baluni also cast his vote.
    Just-married couples in their wedding attires turned up at various polling stations to exercise their franchise. Aged and differently-abled voters were carried to the polling booths on stretchers and wheelchairs.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)