Elections 2019: turnout falls to 63 pc as 117 constituencies go to polls
India voted for the highest number of Lok Sabha seats today in the third of the seven-phase elections underway in the world?s largest democracy. With this, the fate of 302 MPs out of a total of 543, across 13 states and two Union Territories has been decided.
- Google marked the day with a special Google Doodle, encouraging people to go out and vote.
- Northern Karnataka, where voting was held in 14 constituencies, clocking 64 percent voter turnout compared with 61 percent in the southern part of the state where elections were held last year.
- Major candidates in the fray today included Congress President Rahul Gandhi (Wayanad, Kerala), BJP leader Amit Shah (Gandhinagar, Gujarat), sitting Congress MP Shashi Tharoor (Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala), Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav (Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh), and former J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti (Anantnag) of the PDP.
- Star voters today included Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who visited his mother before casting his vote in Gandhinagar.
- As the third phase unfolded, MTV too joined forces with a campaign encouraging India's youth to cast their vote.