Hyderabad: With the commencement of polling in 95 constituencies across 11 States and Union Territories on Thursday, several areas where polling was scheduled witnessed violence.
During the first half of polling, clashes erupted in West Bengal's Raiganj. A similar incident was reported in Darjeeling's Chopra.
While police resorted to lathi-charge to clear the blockade in Chopra, BJP's Raiganj parliamentary constituency candidate Debashree Chaudhuri alleged booth capturing by TMC workers leading to a clash.
In the state's North Dinajpur district, veteran CPI (M) leader Mohammed Salim's car was attacked allegedly by TMC workers.
In addition, a 22-year-old of BJP Yuva Morcha member found hanging from a tree in Senabana village of Arsha in Purulia.
In Bihar, as clashes broke out between groups of Janata Dal-United (JDU) candidate Giridhari Yadav and independent candidate Putul Kumari, police had to resort to firing in the air to control the mob.
A similar incident was reported from Assam's Karimganj where voters clashed with security personnel over the delay in polling.
In Karnataka, supporters of Sumalatha Ambareesh and HD Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil Gowda clashed among themselves. The situation was brought under control only after the intervention of security personnel.
Amid polling, Naxals also triggered an IED blast in Chhattisgarh's Rajnandgaon district where polling took place in the second phase of elections.
While no casualty was reported in the blast, the Manpur-Mohla Assembly segment of Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha constituency was held between 7 am to 3 pm.
The next phase of polling will be held on April 23 in 115 constituencies across 12 states and two union territories.
Also Read: Bharat Decides 2019: All you need to know about the 2019 General Elections
