The first phase of Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand on Tuesday witnessed a high turnout. Deputy Election Commissioner Vinod Zutshi said that the 71.28 per cent polling recorded in J&K was probably the highest.
Jharkhand saw 61.92 per cent voting in the 13 Assembly constituencies. Only minor incidents of violence were reported in the naxal-hit areas of western Jharkhand. In Chhatarpur seat of Palamu district, miscreants destroyed control units of voting machines in two booths.
“Re-polling is likely to be ordered in those booths as votes had been cast in those machines,” Deputy Election Commissioner Umesh Sinha said. No polling took place in three booths in a single location in Chatra, where a 12-kg improvised explosive device was recovered.
Mr. Zutshi said that 121-year old Noor Bi, perhaps the oldest voter, cast her vote in the Kabhi polling booth in the Ramban constituency in J&K.
In all, 10.67 lakh people voted in the State for 123 candidates in 1,787 booths.
He said security forces and polling teams were deployed and 43 helicopter sorties were made through the day. In the Lok Sabha election, the respective seats in J&K and Jharkhand registered turnouts of 52.63 per cent and 58 per cent, respectively.