In a kaleidoscope of democracy in action, voters of all ages — from wheelchair-bound seniors to newlyweds and Great Andamanese Tribe from Strait Island in South Andaman to the world’s shortest woman cast their vote on Friday with an estimated  62.37 per cent turnout recorded till 6 pm in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections.

It covered 102 seats across 21 States and Union Territories amid sporadic incidents of violence in West Bengal while an accidental explosion of a grenade launcher shell in Chhattisgarh left a CRPF jawan dead. The highest voter turnout on the first day of polling under Phase 1 of the Lok Sabha elections was recorded in Tripura at 79.90 per cent , followed by West Bengal at 77.57 per cent and Assam at 71.38 per cent, with Bihar witnessing the lowest turnout at 47.49 per cent till 7 pm. According to officials, the prevailing heatwave condition in Bihar could be a possible reason for the low voter turnout.

In strife-torn Manipur, around 68. 62 per cent polling was recorded amid incidents of shooting, damage to electronic voting machines (EVMs), threats to voters and polling agents by armed miscreants while 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.

Tamil Nadu recorded a voter turnout of 72.09 percent in the Lok Sabha polls with no major untoward incidents while 58 per cent voter turnout was recorded on eight seats of western Uttar Pradesh. According to the Election Commission’s Voter Turnout app, 63.29 per cent voting was reported in Saharanpur, 57.83 per cent in Moradabad, 60.39 per cent in Kairana, 59.17 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. These seats fall in the Jat and sugarcane belt of the State.

The commission described the turnout as “high”, noting that voting remained “largely peaceful”. In the first phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the voter turnout was recorded at 69.43 per cent. Some of the constituencies were different then and the total number of seats which went to polls were 91.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged voters to exercise their franchise in record numbers as the seven-phase Lok Sabha polls started with polling being held in 102 constituencies.

He especially called upon the young and first-time voters to vote in large numbers.

“The 2024 Lok Sabha elections commence today! As 102 seats across 21 States and UTs go to the polls, I urge all those voting in these seats to exercise their franchise in record numbers,” he said in a post on X. He added, “I particularly call upon the young and first-time voters to vote in large numbers. After all, every vote counts and every voice matters!” Modi made the appeal in various Indian languages.

West Bengal, polling was marred by violence in the Cooch Behar seat. TMC and BJP workers clashed with each other and lodged 80 and 39 complaints respectively related to poll violence, voter intimidation, and assault on poll agents, sources from both parties said.

Minor EVM glitches were reported at some booths in Tamil Nadu, Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Assam. A vehicle carrying an EVM partially sank into a river after water level rose suddenly, washing away a mechanised boat that was ferrying the SUV in Lakhimpur constituency. The driver and the polling officer of the vehicle managed to get out before water gushed into the vehicle.

Poll violence and allegations of electronic voting machines being damaged marred the polling process in Manipur, a state that has been embroiled in ethnic violence since May last year. There have been at least two incidents of gunfire close to polling stations in the Manipur valley. An altercation broke out between locals and unidentified persons in Thongju assembly constituency under the Inner Manipur Lok Sabha seat. Incidents of EVM damage were also reported from three polling stations in East Kameng, Kurung Kumey and Upper Subansiri districts in Arunachal Pradesh.

From bustling city centres to remote villages, the polling stations witnessed a colourful convergence of voters spanning generations and backgrounds. Polling was seamless, based on meticulous planning and execution by the Commission and its officials in the field. In Kurung Kumey District of Arunachal Pradesh an elderly voter opted to go cast her vote at the polling station despite having the option to vote from home. Elsewhere, a first-time voter, Ms. Devaki, adorned in traditional attire, in Dindori, Madhya Pradesh, expressed her happiness by proudly striking a pose with her inked finger after casting her vote. Adding to the celebratory atmosphere, newly-married voters also proudly took to social media to post selfies with their ink-marked fingers. The Great Andamanese Tribe from Strait Island in South Andaman also participated enthusiastically. Visuals  of voters standing in long queues waiting for their chance to vote were seen across the  polling stations as voting began simultaneously across 102 PCs at 7 AM on Friday. In Bodh Gaya in Bihar, Buddhist monks were seen posing with a smile and their fingers inked in a proud display. In Andaman and Nicobar Islands, voters belonging to the tribal communities came out in large numbers. Shompen tribe of Great Nicobar made history by casting their votes for the first time this elections. Dheeraj Soni and Pooja Soni cast their vote in Rajasthan’s Sikar shortly after getting married, Aseem Mangotra and Vishali in Udhampur, and Devesh Thakur and Gangotri Thakur in Chhattisgarh’s Naraynapur. Rejecting the home voting facility provided to senior citizens by the commission, a 95-year-old retired Navy official went to a polling booth in Jaipur to cast his vote on a wheelchair. The world’s shortest woman, Jyoti Amge, cast her vote in Nagpur in Maharashtra and appealed to people to come out in large numbers and exercise their franchise in the elections.

According to EC, 56 villages in Bastar cast their vote in a polling booth set up in their own village for the first time in a Lok Sabha Election. Voters were seen to benefit from the medical facilities at the Model Polling station in PC-163 in Bijapur. 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.

As per data shared by the EC, Rajasthan saw a voter turnout of close to 55 per cent was recorded in 12 parliamentary constituencies. The highest voter turnout of 62.93 per cent was recorded in the Ganganagar Lok Sabha seat while Jhunjhunu saw the lowest turnout of 47.98 per cent, it said. Jaipur recorded a poll percentage of 61.23. The voting percentage in Bikaner was 52.53, Churu 61.05, Sikar 55.06, Jaipur Rural 54.44, Alwar 55.82, Dausa 49.57, Bharatpur 50.97 and Nagaur 56.89.

In the first major electoral battle in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370, the Udhampur constituency witnessed enthusiastic voters’ participation recorded more than 65.08 percent voting till 7 pm, with officials saying the final turnout figures would be higher as data from remote locations and ballot papers are compiled.

Arunachal Pradesh saw over 65.46 percent voters exercising their franchise, Meghalaya ( 70.26 percent) ,Mizoram ( 54.88 percent), Nagaland 56.77 percent.Though the turnout was moderate in the morning hours in north eastern states due to inclement weather, it gathered momentum with weather conditions improving.

States, including Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territories of Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep completed their voting process on Friday in single-phase election.

Andaman Nicobar recorded 56.87 percent voters turn out; Lakshadweep 59.02 percent; Uttarakhand 53.64 percent, Puducherry 73.25 percent and  Sikkim 68.06 percent.