The fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections saw a great turnout of voters, with over 62% of the voters turning out till 5 pm across 96 constituencies in 10 states and Union Territories. West Bengal led the polling with 75.66% voter turnout, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 68.01%. However, Jammu and Kashmir and Maharashtra reported lower turnout at 35.75% and 52.49%, respectively. Andhra Pradesh has 68.04% voting, while Bihar 54.14%, Jharkhand 63.14%, Odisha 62.96%, Uttar Pradesh 56.35%, and Telangana 61.16%.
The voting process started at 7 am and continued until 6 pm, but some incidents of violence also interrupted the voting process in several constituents. Various reports said that there have been clashes between parties in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal. Also, Odisha and West Bengal reported the cases of EVM malfunctioning.
In Andhra Pradesh, it was the TDP and YSRCP that were blaming each other for the violence, especially in Palnadu, Kadapa, and Annamayya districts. YSRCP said that TDP had violated the poll code and stole booths, whereas TDP claimed that YSRCP workers destroyed vehicles and beat agents up. On the contrary, in Telangana, BJP candidate K Madhavi Latha was in the center of the mass media for the reason that she was supposedly telling the women voters to remove their burqas at a polling booth.
Srinagar faced voting amidst the worries of low turnout and rising tensions. The BJP did not participate in the election in the Muslim-dominated Kashmir region. Moreover, the Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu who were displaced also faced the problem of not being able to vote because their names were not on the electoral rolls.
With 1,717 candidates vying for seats and over 17.70 crore eligible voters, including 8.73 crore women, this phase signifies significant democratic engagement. Polling covers 17 seats in Telangana, 25 in Andhra Pradesh, 13 in Uttar Pradesh, five in Bihar, four in Jharkhand, eight in Madhya Pradesh, 11 in Maharashtra, four in Odisha, eight in West Bengal, and one in Jammu and Kashmir.
Check here for the latest updates in Hindi!