66% polling in Haryana, seven hurt in Nuh firing

CHANDIGARH : Haryana saw 65.6% (11pm) voter turnout at 7pm on Monday, the lowest in the past three assembly elections, as the fate of 1,169 candidates, including 105 women, was sealed in the electronic voting machines (EVMs) on Monday. Barring sporadic clashes and allegations of booth capturing, polling passed off peacefully.

The low turnout indicated a lack of voter enthusiasm, experts say.

Ashutosh Kumar, a political analyst at Panjab University, Chandigarh, said that the low turnout was because of low intensity in the poll campaign. “The low voting is pro-incumbency as per our comparative study of elections worldwide. A high percentage of voting is an indicator of an anti-incumbency wave. Another reason is the lack of national-level campaigners in this election,” Kumar said.

The five assembly seats with the highest turnout (till 11 pm) were Tohana 80.5%, Jagadhari 78.7%, Dabwali 78.2%, Narnaund 77.7% and Bawani Khera 77.7%

The five seats with the lowest turnout were Badshapur 45%, Panipat City 45%, Karnal 49.3%, Gurugram 51% and Badkhal 51.3% Additional director general of police, law and order, Navdeep Virk said 12 poll-related first information reports (FIRs) were registered on Monday.

“There were two incidents of firing in Nuh district and seven persons were injured,” he said. Minor clashes were reported from Rohtak, Nuh and Narnaul. Thirty-four cases were registered in the 2014 assembly elections.

Former Hisar MP Dushyant Chautala of the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), Dadri BJP candidate and Olympian wrestler Babita Phogat, Baroda BJP candidate and Olympian wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, Sonepat BJP candidate Kavita Jain, state Congress chief

Kumari Selja, Kaithal Congress candidate Randeep Surjewala, state BJP chief, Subhash Barala, Adampur BJP candidate Sonali Phogat, Panchkula BJP candidate Gian Chand Gupta, Tohana JJP candidate Devender Babli and Hisar BJP candidate Kamal Gupta were among the early voters.

Chief minister ML Khattar boarded a Jan Shatabdi from Chandigarh to Karnal and later cycled to the polling booth.

As in the Lok Sabha elections, cooperation minister and BJP candidate Manish Grover was at the centre of a controversy. The Rohtak police registered an FIR against his aide Papan Gulia, a councillor, and his brother Babal for booth capturing.

In Mewat adjoining Gurgaon, a woman was injured in a group clash outside a polling booth at Malaaka village in Nuh district.

Tension prevailed at Dumer Khan village in Jind under Uchana Kalan segment after JJP candidate Dushyant Chautala alleged an attack and bogus voting. Dushyant is locked in a tough contest with BJP candidate Prem Lata, the wife of former Union minister Birender Singh.