Kolkata: The polling in the first two hours for three Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal Friday was marred by incidents of violence in the Cooch Behar Lok Sabha constituency. Some cases of violence were reported from Jalpaiguri Lok Sabha constituency as well. Alipurduar, however, was an exception, with no report of poll-related violence in the first...

Chennai: Brisk polling is underway in Tamil Nadu for the 2024 general election with the state witnessing a 12.55 per cent turnout till 9am. The polling exercise that began at 7am Friday amid tight security arrangements is going on at a quick pace in most of the 39 constituencies spread across the state. The enthusiasm among first-time...

Chennai: Tamil film star Ajith Kumar was the first denizen of the silver screen to show up for voting Friday. He arrived at his nearest polling booth at Thiruvanmiyur in Chennai 30 minutes before voting began and patiently waited for the door to open. Others were not far behind. When megastar Rajinikanth arrived to cast his vote...

Bijapur: A jawan of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) deployed on poll duty in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district was injured when a shell of Under Barrel Grenade Launcher (UBGL) accidentally exploded, a police official said. The injured jawan, belonging to CRPF's 196th battalion, was administered preliminary treatment and was being evacuated, he said. The incident occurred near...

United Nations: An isolated US has shot down Palestine's bid to get full UN membership using its veto at the Security Council undermining the keystone of a two-nation solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. The veto nullified the votes of 12 countries in the 15-member Security Council Thursday to upgrade Palestine from an observer to a full member....

Bhopal: Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath along with his son, incumbent MP Nakul Nath, and other family members cast their votes in Chhindwara Friday. Nakul Nath is seeking re-election from Chhindwara -- one of the largest (area-wise) and a tribal-populated Lok Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh. Congress veteran Kamal Nath represented Chhindwara...

New Delhi: Voting was underway on Friday in 102 Lok Sabha seats spread across 21 states and Union territories in the first of the seven phases of the world's largest electoral exercise, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging voters to exercise their franchise in record numbers. He especially called upon the young and first-time voters to vote...

Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu and Union Minister Kiren Rijiju cast their votes on Friday at their native villages as the polling for two Lok Sabha seats and 50 assembly constituencies is underway, officials said. Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein also exercised his franchise in his village in the Chowkham assembly segment. Rijiju cast his...

Guwahati: Long queues were seen outside booths since the morning as polling was underway for five constituencies in Assam in the first phase Friday. Poling began at 7 am in Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Lakhimpur, Sonitpur and Kaziranga seats, and 86.5 lakh voters are eligible to vote. Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal of the BJP and Congress's deputy leader in...

Lucknow: The Election Commission of India (ECI) is monitoring polling across 50 per cent of the booths through webcasting. Additionally, the ECI has deployed 1,510 video teams at the polling booths, as stated by the chief electoral officer (CEO). The commission has established 111 model polling stations, with 45 booths managed by women personnel, 36 by youths,...