LS Polls 2019: Voters turn out in large numbers to elect 91 MPs in 1st phase; 2 killed in Andhra

The world's largest polling exercise began Thursday with an estimated 9 crore Indians coming out to vote for electing 91 parliamentarians in the first phase of over-a-month-long Lok Sabha elections for which the Modi government has made nationalism its core pitch against a fragmented opposition, even as poll-related violence saw at least two deaths.

Complaints poured in about missing voter names and glitches in electronic voting machines in some areas, while Naxal-affected regions of Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh saw IED blasts and clashes with security forces, though officials maintained the polling was largely peaceful with moderate-to-large voter turnout.

West Bengal, where voting took place for two Lok Sabha seats, saw the maximum 81 per cent voting, while state election officers put the voting percentage at 73 per cent in Andhra Pradesh, where violent clashes left at least two persons dead. Some reports put the number of deaths in poll-related clashes at three.

The 91 Lok Sabha ...