60pc voter turnout in Phase 1 of India's elections

NEW DELHI, Apr 20 (PTI): A voter turnout of over 60 per cent was recorded in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections covering 102 seats across 21 states and Union territories amid sporadic incidents of violence at some places and an accidental explosion of a grenade launcher shell in Chhattisgarh that left a CRPF jawan dead.
The Election Commission said on Friday polling for the first and biggest phase of the seven-phase elections remained largely peaceful.
Voters braved the heat in most parts while at some places, they waited patiently in pouring rain as the world's largest poll exercise got underway at 7 am.
The National Democratic alliance (NDA) under Prime Minister Modi is seeking a stronger majority for a third consecutive term, while the constituents of the opposition INDIA bloc are hoping for a rebound after facing reverses in the 2014 and 2019 elections.
Tripura recorded the highest turnout of 79.90 per cent, followed by West Bengal at 77.57, Puducherry 73.25 per cent, Assam 71.38 and Meghalaya 70.26 per cent. 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, where the BJP is trying to make inroads, was among the seven states and three Union territories where polling was held for all the seats.
Counting of votes in the elections that will conclude on June one will be taken up on June 4.
The Election Commission has deployed over 18 lakh polling personnel across 1.87 lakh polling stations.
A Reuters report adds: Hindu-Muslim enmity made way for peace in an Indian district that saw deadly riots a decade ago but religious divisions still influence residents who voted on Friday in general elections in which Hindu nationalism is a key theme.
Villages are largely self-segregated by religion in and around Muzaffarnagar district, in the most populous northern state of Uttar Pradesh, but people say there is no longer tension between the majority Hindu and minority Muslim communities.
Violent clashes broke out here in 2013 after two Hindus stabbed a Muslim youth to death, accusing him of sexually harassing their sister. They were later beaten to death by a Muslim mob, which sparked riots that killed about 65 people, mostly Muslims, and displaced thousands.
Violence has not returned to the district known as the country's sugarcane-belt, but political divisions remain as Hindus typically vote for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Muslims for the opposition.
Modi's government has "controlled Muslims", said Ramesh Chand, a Hindu biscuit baker in Kairana city near Muzaffarnagar. Critics accuse the nationalist BJP of targeting India's 200 million minority Muslims to please their hardline Hindu base - charges they deny.
Modi is widely expected to win a third term on the back of strong growth, welfare and his personal popularity despite some concern about unemployment, price rises and rural distress.