Over 35% turnout in first six hours in Haryana

Chandigarh: Barring stray incidents, polling in Haryana was by and large going on smoothly as about 35 percent of the 1.63 crore eligible voters exercised their franchise till 1 pm on Wednesday.

Two persons were injured in firing during a clash between supporters of two groups in Sirsa, Sirsa Superintendent of Police, Mitesh Jain, said.

A supporter from each side was injured in the incident and the seriously injured person has been hospitalised, police said, adding investigations are on in the matter.

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Amid tight security, polling commenced in all the 90 Assembly seats at 7 am and would continue till 6 pm to decide the fate of 1,351 candidates. Counting of votes will take place on October 19.

Election officials said that the polling was slow during the first two hours, but gradually picked up pace and was brisk at places including Fatehabad, Hisar, Gurgaon, Jind, Mewat, Palwal and Yamunanagar while it was moderate at other places including Panchkula, Karnal and Rewari districts.



In another incident, the window panes of a car belonging to a supporter of Haryana Lokhit Party's Gopal Kanda were broken following a minor clash between the supporters of HLP and INLD workers in Sirsa, police said.

Kanda, a former Haryana Minister, is seeking re-election from Sirsa.

There were glitches in EVM machines at a couple of places in the state.

In Narnaund, BJP candidate from the Assembly segment and Chief Ministerial aspirant, Capt Abhimanyu alleged that attempts to capture booth were made in Baans village in the constituency at the behest of rival INLD, which vehemently denied the charge.

Wires of web-casting camera were cut in Booth No 140 and an attempt was made to capture booth by the 'goondas', Abhimanyu told reporters in Narnaund.

This is a hyper sensitive booth, he said, "but the police administration is sitting like a mute spectator".

A spokesman of the INLD said that Abhimanyu was levelling false allegations "out of sheer frustration sensing his imminent defeat".

Over 1.63 crore voters including over 87 lakh women are eligible to cast their vote in the polls, in which stakes are high for the three main contenders including ruling Congress, BJP and INLD.

Ahead of the polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi led an aggressive poll campaign for the BJP, which is for the first time seeking to come to power in Haryana on its own.

The kin of the three famous 'Lals' (Bansi Lal, Bhajan Lal and Devi Lal) are also battling it out in the state.

The highest number of 116 women contestants are in fray this time.

Among the candidates who had cast their votes before noon included Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in his home district of Rohtak. On the day of polling, Hooda looked relaxed and began his day by playing a game of badminton.

Interacting with reporters at Rohtak, Hooda claimed that his Congress party was on a good footing in the State.

When asked if he saw "Modi factor" playing a role in the Haryana polls, Hooda told reporters in Rohtak that Narendra Modi was not fighting for the post of chief minister of Haryana.

"The BJP did not even declare its Chief Ministerial candidate in Haryana ahead of the polls," he said.

Hooda also said that he had not seen a Prime Minister campaign so much in a small state like Haryana.

"He addressed 11 rallies. It looked as if he was trying to become the chief minister of Haryana," Hooda said after casting his vote.

Meanwhile, others who cast their votes early included Haryana Ministers Randeep Singh Surjewala (Kaithal), Savitri Jindal (Hisar), Geeta Bhukkal (Jhajjar), Ajay Singh Yadav (Rewari), Capt Abhimanyu of the BJP (Narnaund in Hisar district) and INLD's Naina Chautala (Sirsa), Jan Chetna Party chief Venod Sharma (Ambala) and Haryana Janhit Congress chief Kuldeep Bishnoi (Adampur in Hisar).

Voters had started queuing up since early morning.

A total number of 16,357 polling booths have been set up.

The total number of voters also include 88,662 service voters and 12 NRI voters.

Unlike in the recent past, when the fight has mainly been limited between Congress and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), a number of new players have thrown their hats in the ring this time.

BJP, which has in the past elections remained a marginal player in the state, is trying to come to power on its own for the first time since the formation of Haryana in 1966.

The ruling Congress is eyeing a win for the third time in a row, mainly banking on the development card while main opposition INLD is seeking to return to power after a decade of hiatus, banking on the charisma of its President Om Prakash Chautala and consolidation of the Jat vote.