11 pm: Here are the day’s top stories:

  • One hundred and seventeen Lok Sabha seats across 13 states and two Union Territories went to polls on Tuesday in the third phase of the General Elections. The overall turnout was estimated at 66.04% at 10 pm. A man was killed in clashes between Congress and Trinamool Congress workers in West Bengal. Mamata Banerjee claimed central security forces were asking voters to support BJP. In Kerala and Uttar Pradesh, voters complained about faulty EVMs. In Thiruvananthapuram, police arrested a voter for allegedly falsely claiming that a VVPAT machine had wrongly registered his vote.
  • Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi after a video purportedly showed drinking water being used to clean roads in Bundelkhand to welcome him.
  • Hindi film actor Sunny Deol joined the BJP on Tuesday. He was named the party’s Gurdaspur candidate later in the day.
  • The Supreme Court issued a notice to Rahul Gandhi on the contempt plea regarding ‘Chowkidar’ remark. Meanwhile, a special court for MPs will hear a plea against Rahul Gandhi’s ‘seditious remarks’ about Modi.
  • The Congress appealed to the Election Commission to bar Narendra Modi from campaigning for 48 to 72 hours. It also claimed that PM Modi has asked oil firms not to increase fuel prices until counting day. A doctors’ group, meanwhile, demanded that Modi be debarred from contesting polls for remark on nuclear weapons.
  • ‘Mamata Banerjee, Congress would have bought PM post if it was up for auction,’ Modi alleged in Bengal. Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis said politicians who sought proof of IAF strikes should be tied to rockets and sent to Balakot.

10.58 pm: Leaders of Opposition parties on Tuesday raised concerns on alleged manipulation of Electronic Voting Machines and renewed their demand that the Election Commission cross-check at least 50% votes using Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail slips. They said they will approach the Supreme Court again on this matter.

Read more here:

Opposition leaders renew demand to verify 50% votes using VVPAT slips, to move Supreme Court again

10.32 pm: Voter turnout figures as of 10 pm:

  • Overall: 66.04%
  • Assam (4 seats): 80.75%
  • Bihar (5 seats): 59.97%
  • Goa (2 seats): 73.88%
  • Gujarat (26 seats): 63.68%
  • Jammu and Kashmir (1 seat): 12.86%
  • Karnataka (14 seats): 67.66%
  • Kerala (20 seats): 72.39%
  • Maharashtra (14 seats): 59.30%
  • Odisha (6 seats): 61.51%
  • Tripura (1 seat): 79.89%
  • Uttar Pradesh (10 seats): 61.40%
  • West Bengal (5 seats): 79.91%
  • Chhattisgarh (7 seats): 68.41%
  • Dadra and Nagar Haveli: 79.59%
  • Daman and Diu: 71.82%

Read more here:

Lok Sabha elections: Third phase concludes amid reports of EVM glitches and violence

9.57 pm: Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi criticises Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “At a time when Bundelkhand men, women, schoolchildren, birds and animals are facing a terrible drought, drinking water is being used to clean the streets to welcome our Prime Minister,” she says on Twitter. “Is he a chowkidar or a ruler who has arrived from Delhi?”

9.47 pm: On speculation that Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi may contest from Varanasi, Shah anyone is free to contest since India is a democracy, reports ANI. “Congress is in confusion, not us,” he says. “Our candidate has been declared, Narendra Modi will contest election from here [Varanasi].”

9.34 pm: BJP chief Amit Shah says Prime Minister Narendra Modi will file his nomination paper to contest from Varanasi seat on Friday. Sukhbir Singh Badal, Nitish Kumar, Uddhav Thackeray and other leaders of the National Democratic Alliance will be present when Modi files his nomination, says Shah, according to ANI. Modi will participate in a road show on Thursday.

9.29 pm: Here’s the voter turnout at 8 pm:

Overall turnout: 65.59%

Gujarat: 63.64%

Kerala: 71.18%

Goa: 72.28%

Bihar: 59.97%

Assam: 80.74%

Jammu and Kashmir: 12.86%

Karnataka: 67.29%

Maharashtra: 58.82%

Odisha: 59.30%

Uttar Pradesh: 61.35%

Tripura: 79.36%

West Bengal: 79.43%

Dadra and Nagar Haveli: 71.43%

Daman and Diu: 70.76%.

8.54 pm: West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Ariz Aftab says three people have been arrested in connection with the killing of a man in a clash between the Congress and Trinamool Congress, ANI reports. The deceased’s family had registered a complaint against six people, Aftab says.

8.53 pm: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra says is ready to contest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Varanasi if her party asks her to, PTI reports. “I have said this repeatedly that I will do what the party asks me to do,” Vadra says.

8.52 pm: Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati says the BJP and Congress have done little to tackle poverty and unemployment, PTI reports. “Poverty and unemployment increased ever since the BJP came to power at the Centre,” Mayawati says. “The Congress, too, has not kept its promises.”

8.41 pm: The Election Commission says it has asked the Gujarat Chief Election Officer for a report on allegations that Prime Minister Narendra Modi violated the Model Code of Conduct by conducting a road show after he cast his vote in Ahmedabad, NDTV reports.

According to News18, Gujarat Chief Election Officer says the prime minister did not violate the Model Code of Conduct. There is no clarity on the matter yet.

8.31 pm: Congress leader Manish Tewari claims Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done a “great favour” to Pakistan and Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar by fielding Malegaon blast accused Pragya Singh Thakur in the Lok Sabha polls, PTI reports.

“On one hand you are trying to build pressure on Pakistan and seeking international support to take action against Azhar and on the other hand you are fielding a terror accused in the parliamentary elections,” Tewari says.

8.30 pm: Jammu and Kashmir polling official Hilal Ahmad Khan died in Anantnag after the bus he was travelling turned turtle, ANI reports.

8.02 pm: BJP releases its list of Lok Sabha candidates for Chandigarh and Punjab. Actor-turned-politician Sunny Deol will contest from Gurdaspur.

7.28 pm: BJP chief Amit Shah addresses a rally in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhatarpur. He alleges that in five years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has completed everything that the Congress could not do in its 55 years of rule.

7.14 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds a roadshow in Ranchi.

6.56 pm: Polling continues in several parts of Kerala even after 6 pm, when voting was scheduled to end. It is likely to continue for a few more hours as long queues are present in several polling booths. Till 6 pm, Kerala had recorded a turnout of 70.2%.

6.54 pm: Voter turnout figures as of 6 pm:

  • Overall: 63.07%
  • Assam (4 seats): 76.20%
  • Bihar (5 seats): 59.97%
  • Goa (2 seats): 71.09%
  • Gujarat (26 seats): 59.98%
  • Jammu and Kashmir (1 seat): 12.86%
  • Karnataka (14 seats): 64.01%
  • Kerala (20 seats): 70.20%
  • Maharashtra (14 seats): 56.55%
  • Odisha (6 seats): 58.18%
  • Tripura (1 seat): 78.37%
  • Uttar Pradesh (10 seats): 57.74%
  • West Bengal (5 seats): 79.36%
  • Chhattisgarh (7 seats): 65.82%
  • Dadra and Nagar Haveli: 71.43%
  • Daman and Diu: 65.34%

6.50 pm: Trinamool Congress leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleges that central forces were asking voters in Malda Dakshin and Balurghat constituencies to cast their votes for the saffron party.

Read more here:

Mamata Banerjee claims central security forces asking voters to support BJP

6.47 pm: The Indian affiliate of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War expresses concern about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remark at a rally in Rajasthan on Sunday, that India’s nuclear weapons are “not meant for Diwali”. The Indian Doctors for Peace and Development demand that Modi be debarred from contesting the Lok Sabha polls.

Read more here:

Doctors’ group demands that PM Modi be debarred from contesting polls for remark on nuclear weapons

6.44 pm: The Shiv Sena says BJP Bhopal candidate Pragya Singh Thakur’s statement on the death of former Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare hurt the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, PTI reports. In an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamana, the Sena also calls Modi the NDA’s asset. The party says “terming sacrifices of martyrs as anti-national at such a time [when Modi has been invoking sacrifices of soldiers] tarnishes his image”.

“Calling such a man [Karkare] anti-national is despicable and an insult to all martyrs of the nation,” it adds.

Thakur had on Sunday told the Election Commission that she did not make any defamatory comments against Karkare. The poll panel had issued a notice to Thakur last week for saying that she cursed Karkare leading to his death in the 26/11 attacks.

6.33 pm: The Congress claims Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked oil companies not to increase prices until May 23 to ensure he gets votes in the ongoing General Elections. Party spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala alleges that Modi has coordinated with the firms to increase petrol and diesel prices by Rs 5 to Rs 10 a litre on the evening of May 23, when votes are counted.

Read more here:

Congress claims PM Modi has asked oil firms not to increase fuel prices until counting day

6.30 pm: Singer Hans Raj Hans files his nomination from the North West Delhi constituency. He was announced as the BJP’s candidate earlier in the day.

6.27 pm: The Congress alleges that Prime Minister Narendra Modi violated the Model Code of Conduct on Tuesday and asks the Election Commission to bar him from campaigning, ANI reports. “Today after casting his vote, PM took out a long procession and delivered a speech,” Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi says after meeting EC officials. “There has never been such a clear violation of the Model Code of Conduct, he is a habitual offender. We appealed to EC to bar him from campaigning for 48-72 hours.”

6.20 pm: Election officials pack up the EVMs and VVPATs at a polling station in Assam. Voting in the third phase of elections was scheduled to conclude at 6 pm.

6.18 pm: Home Minister and BJP leader Rajnath Singh says naxals will be rooted out of the country by 2023, PTI reports. He was campaigning for Palamu constituency’s sitting MP VD Ram at a poll rally in Hussainabad in Jharkhand. Palamu will vote in the fourth phase of the ongoing elections on April 29.

6.03 pm: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday rebuked Bharatiya Janata Party leaders for referring to the armed forces as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Army or Air Force. The Hyderabad legislator was responding to a report about BJP President Amit Shah claiming that Modi “sent his Air Force” to destroy terror camps in Pakistan after the attack on troops in Pulwama.

Read more here:

‘Is PM running the nation or playing PUBG?’: Owaisi takes jibe at BJP for ‘Modi’s Air Force’ remark

5.57 pm: Cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir files his nomination in East Delhi Lok Sabha constituency. He is the BJP’s candidate.

5.53 pm: Voter turnout figures as of 5 pm:

  • Overall: 61.56%
  • Assam (4 seats): 74.05%
  • Bihar (5 seats): 54.95%
  • Goa (2 seats): 70.97%
  • Gujarat (26 seats): 58.95%
  • Jammu and Kashmir (1 seat): 12.86%
  • Karnataka (14 seats): 60.95%
  • Kerala (20 seats): 69.19%
  • Maharashtra (14 seats): 55.47%
  • Odisha (6 seats): 57.86%
  • Tripura (1 seat): 71.45%
  • Uttar Pradesh (10 seats): 56.57%
  • West Bengal (5 seats): 78.94%
  • Chhattisgarh (7 seats): 64.68%
  • Dadra and Nagar Haveli: 71.43%
  • Daman and Diu: 65.34%

5.48 pm: “If the PM seat could be auctioned, then both the Congress and Mamata Banerjee would buy it with the money that they have looted,” Modi says in Asansol, according to News18. “But Didi the PM post cannot be bought.”

Read more here:

‘Mamata Banerjee, Congress would have bought PM post if it was up for auction,’ says Modi in Bengal

5.44 pm: Modi attacks the Trinamool Congress for bringing in a Bangladeshi actor to campaign. “Today TMC’s condition has become such that people are not turning up for their rallies so they are forced to call actors from abroad,” he says, according to News18.

5.40 pm: Modi, at the meeting in Asansol, claims the Trinamool Congress is corrupt. “Before 2014, Congress government had made a record of corruption,” Modi says. “Today, TMC government is giving a tough competition to the Congress. Corruption and crime are non-stop in the Trinamool Congress rule. And ‘speed-breaker didi’ is also there.”

5.39 pm: At a public meeting in Asansol district of West Bengal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi says the state will “teach a lesson to Trinamool, who tries to hijack democracy”, News18 reports.

5.31 pm: About 250 transgender people vote for the first time in Vadodara, PTI reports. Anju Masi of Baranpura, credited the district administration’s initiatives.

5.29 pm: BJP Lok Sabha candidate from Kendrapara in Odisha, Baijayant Jay Panda, casts his vote for the parliamentary as well as Assembly elections.

5.22 pm: The Election Commission issues a show-cause notice to the Raigarh Congress candidate Laljeet Singh Rathiya for allegedly making an objectionable statement about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, PTI reports. Voting is currently underway in Raigarh in Chhattisgarh. At a public meeting in Narayanpur in Chhattisgarh’s Jashpur district on April 16, Rathiya had criticised Modi for implementing demonetisation and called it a historic mistake

Rathiya told the poll officials that the statement was not against the prime minister but only against the note ban decision.

5.17 pm: Former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar casts his vote in Hubbali-Dharwad.

4.56 pm: Bharatiya Janata Party workers allegedly beat up a Nationalist Congress Party worker in Bhopal after he reportedly showed black flags to Pragya Singh Thakur, the BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate from Bhopal.

4.54 pm: In Odisha, a polling official at booth number 41 in Kantapal village in Dhenkanal collapsed and died, ANI reports.

4.53 pm: A polling agent in West Bengal, Babulal Murmu, was found dead at his house in Buniadpur in Dakshin Dinajpur, reports ANI.

4.52 pm: Voter turnout figures as of 4 pm:

  • Overall: 52.08%
  • Assam (four seats): 64.04%
  • Bihar (five seats): 46.94%
  • Goa (two seats): 58.92%
  • Gujarat (26 seats): 50.41%
  • Jammu and Kashmir (one seat): 11.22%
  • Karnataka (14 seats): 51.97%
  • Kerala (20 seats): 57.30%
  • Maharashtra (14 seats): 45.44%
  • Odisha (six seats): 47.41%
  • Tripura (one seat): 67.12%
  • Uttar Pradesh (10 seats): 47.41%
  • West Bengal (5 seats): 68.25%
  • Chhattisgarh (7 seats): 55.29%
  • Dadra and Nagar Haveli: 56.81%
  • Daman and Diu: 55.02%

4.48 pm: Three Trinamool Congress workers – Tujam Ansari, Masadul Islam, and Mallick Mondal – were injured in Domkal in West Bengal’s Murshidabad Lok Sabha constituency, ANI reports. Some unknown people reportedly threw a crude bomb at them. In West Bengal, five constituencies – Balurghat, Malda North, Malda South, Jangipur and Murshidabad – are voting on Tuesday.

4.45 pm: One person was killed and two people were injured in clashes between Trinamool Congress and Congress workers in Bhagwangola in Murshidabad Lok Sabha constituency in West Bengal, The Indian Express reports. The deceased was identified as Tiarul Sheikh. The Congress claimed he was its partyworker. Another Congress worker, Mehboob Sheikh and the Trinamool’s Tahijul Sheikh were injured and are in a critical condition.

Read more here:

Lok Sabha polls: Man killed in clash between Congress, Trinamool Congress workers in West Bengal

4.30 pm: Congress leader Ahmed Patel tells ANI that the party will soon decide if Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will contest the Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency.

4.20 pm: Congress announces Ranvir Sharma as its candidate for the bye-election to the Agra North Assembly constituency in Uttar Pradesh.

4.03 pm: The Uttar Pradesh chief electoral officer seeks details from district magistrates after 11 candidates in the third phase were found seeking votes on social media in the “silence period” before the elections, PTI reports. Five of the candidates were from the BJP, four from the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance, and two from the Congress.

3.58 pm: In Kerala, police file an FIR against a man who first alleged that the VVPAT machine had registered his vote wrongly, but later failed to prove his complaint. Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala says the Election Commission’s decision to file the case is unacceptable.

3.34 pm: Voter turnout figures as of 3 pm:

  • Overall: 51.16%
  • Assam (four seats): 62.13%
  • Bihar (five seats): 46.94%
  • Goa (two seats): 58.54%
  • Gujarat (26 seats): 50.36%
  • Jammu and Kashmir (one seat): 10.64%
  • Karnataka (14 seats): 49.96%
  • Kerala (20 seats): 55.03%
  • Maharashtra (14 seats): 44.70%
  • Odisha (six seats): 46.29%
  • Tripura (one seat): 61.15%
  • Uttar Pradesh (10 seats): 46.99%
  • West Bengal (5 seats): 67.52%
  • Chhattisgarh (seven seats): 55.29%
  • Dadra and Nagar Haveli: 56.81%
  • Daman and Diu: 55.02%

3.12 pm: At a booth in Odisha’s Cuttack Lok Sabha constituency, a VVPAT machine meant for the Lok Sabha polling was found to have been wrongly attached to an EVM meant for the Assembly polling. The polling at the booth was adjourned. The incident took place in Badamba Assembly constituency.

3.03 pm: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor says he inspected some polling booths where malfunctioning EVMs were reported. He says he found “no prima facie sign of mischief”. He adds: “1 button jammed; 1 control unit flashed ‘invalid’; 1 didn’t work at all. But the delays caused by such glitches have inconvenienced voters.”

2.50 pm: An FIR is filed against wrestler and Assistant Commissioner of Police Narsingh Yadav for allegedly campaigning for Congress candidate Sanjay Nirupam in Mumbai, PTI reports.

2.39 pm: Voter turnout figures as of 2 pm:

  • Overall: 38.11%
  • Assam (four seats): 46.61%
  • Bihar (five seats): 37.05%
  • Goa (two seats): 46.41%
  • Gujarat (26 seats): 39.27%
  • Jammu and Kashmir (one seat): 9.63%
  • Karnataka (14 seats): 36.74%
  • Kerala (20 seats): 40.86%
  • Maharashtra (14 seats): 32.36%
  • Odisha (six seats): 32.82%
  • Tripura (one seat): 45.54%
  • Uttar Pradesh (10 seats): 29.76%
  • West Bengal (5 seats): 52.60%
  • Chhattisgarh (seven seats): 42.97%
  • Dadra and Nagar Haveli: 37.20%
  • Daman and Diu: 42.99%

2.34 pm: Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti casts her vote at in Anantnag district, ANI reports.

2.09 pm: BJP leader Pragya Singh Thakur responds to the petition filed against her candidature in the Lok Sabha election, says the plea is frivolous and has “political agenda”, PTI reports. She seeks the dismissal of the plea by a special NIA court in Mumbai, where it was filed.

The plea was filed by the father of a Malegaon blast victim.

2.06 pm: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claims at a rally in Arambagh that central forces are working for the BJP, and are asking voters in the state to vote for the party, PTI reports.

1.59 pm: BJP leader and Union minister Arun Jaitley casts his vote in Ahmedabad, ANI reports.

1.55 pm: AIADMK announces candidates for the bye-polls to be held on May 19 in four Assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu. VV Senthilnathan will contest from Aravakurichi, S Muniyandi from Thiruparankundram, P Mohan from Ottapidaram and VP Kandhasamy from Sulur, ANI reports.

1.52 pm: Congress candidates Sheila Dikshit and Ajay Maken file their nomination, ANI reports. Dikshit will contest from North East Delhi and Maken from New Delhi.

1.40 pm: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has suggested that those who ask for proof of the Indian Air Force’s air strikes across the border should be “strapped to rockets” so that they can see it for themselves. He made the remarks on Monday, a day after his cabinet colleague Pankaja Munde made a similar comment about Rahul Gandhi.

Read more

Fadnavis says politicians who seek proof of IAF strikes should be tied to rockets, sent to Balakot

‘Rahul Gandhi should be tied to a bomb and sent to another country,’ says BJP minister Pankaja Munde

1.35 pm: BJP leader and former Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani casts his vote in Ahmedabad.

1.29 pm: Leader of the Opposition in Goa Assembly Chandrakant Kavlekar says he is concerned about the use of faulty voting machines in the Cuncolim and Quepem Assembly segments in the South Goa Lok Sabha seat. “During mock polling, all votes were getting registered in the BJP’s name despite pressing buttons of other parties,” The Hindu quotes him as saying. “I will be filing a complaint with the Election Commission. This is foul play by the BJP.”

1.26 pm: Samajwadi Party candidate from Badaun, Dharmendra Yadav, has alleged that BJP candidate Sanghmitra Maurya’s father Swami Prasad Maurya, who is a minister in the Adityanath government, is still camping in the constituency in violation of the model code of conduct, reports The Hindu.

In Rampur, the party’s candidate Azam Khan tells reporters that more than 300 voting machines are not functioning properly. He accuses district officials of not replacing the machines fast enough.

1.17 pm: After her husband and son, Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan’s wife Tazeen Fatima has taken on Jaya Prada, who is contesting against her husband in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, reports ANI. “We need Ali and Bajrang Bali but not Anarkali,” she is quoted as saying. Her son Abdullah Azam Khan had compared Prada to the courtesan Anarkali.

12.50 pm: The Supreme Court has issued a notice to Congress President Rahul Gandhi in a contempt case filed against him by BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi, reports Live Law. Gandhi allegedly attributed the “chowkidar chor hai” remark, which he uses frequently to target Narendra Modi, to the top court. The court says it will hear the matter on April 30 along with the review petition filed against the December 14 verdict in the Rafale case.

Read more

‘Chowkidar’ remark: Supreme Court issues notice to Rahul Gandhi on contempt plea

Rafale remark made ‘in heat of campaigning’ was misused by political opponents: Rahul Gandhi to SC

12.39 pm: Singer-turned-politician Hans Raj Hans will be the BJP candidate from North West Delhi, news agencies report. Earlier in the day, incumbent MP Udit Raj had said he would quit the party if he was not given the ticket.

12.30 pm: According to the Election Commission, the turnout at 12 pm was 24.04%.

Here are state-wise numbers:

  • Gujarat (26 seats):  24.93%
  • Assam (four seats): 28.64%
  • Bihar (five seats): 25.65%
  • Goa (two seats): 28.56%
  • Jammu and Kashmir (one seat): 4.72%
  • Karnataka (14 seats): 21.05%
  • Kerala (20 seats): 26.88%
  • Maharashtra (14 seats): 17.58%
  • Odisha (six seats): 18.58%
  • Tripura (one seat): 29.32%
  • Uttar Pradesh (10 seats): 22.39%
  • West Bengal (5 seats): 35%
  • Chhattisgarh (seven seats):  27.29%
  • Dadra and Nagar Haveli: 21.62%
  • Daman and Diu: 23.93%

12.12 pm: Sunny Deol says he wants five more years of the Modi government. “I have come here to be associated with Narendra Modi ji and the BJP the way my father was associated with Atal Bihari Vajpayee.”

12.06 pm: Hindi film actor Sunny Deol formally joins BJP. He is welcomed to the party by Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Nirmala Sitharaman.

11.59 am: Congress leader Hardik Patel takes a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi after casting his vote in Viramgam in Gujarat’s Surendranagar constituency. “If I had needed a ‘chowkidaar, I would have gone to Nepal,” he says. “I need a prime minister who can strengthen the economy and the education sector, give jobs to youth and also work for betterment of jawans. I need a prime minister and not a ‘chowkidaar’.”

11.52 am: Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who is contesting from Gulbarga in Karnataka, casts his vote.

11.48 am: CPI(M) State Secretary in Kerala, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, takes a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi when asked to respond to reports of EVM glitches. “Election Commission’s arrangements have completely collapsed,” he says after casting his vote in Kannur district. “‘Modi’s machine’ that transfers all votes to BJP has arrived in Kerala also.”

11.42 am: Hindi film star Sunny Deol is set to join the BJP, reports ANI. He had met BJP President Amit Shah in Pune last week.

11.38 am: ANI tweets a video of suspected BJP workers in Moradabad beating an election official at booth number 231. They accused him of asking voters to vote for the Samajwadi Party.

11.33 am: Thiruvananthapuram District Collector K Vasuki says a technical error in a voting machine in Chowara, Kovalam, caused voters to complain that votes were being cast for the BJP although the Congress candidate’s button was being pressed, reports The Hindu. What the voters alleged is “technically and technologically impossible”, she adds.

11.29 am: Alappuzha Collector S Suhas has clarified that an electronic voting machine at a polling booth in Cherthala was replaced following ‘press error’, reports Manorama. He dismisses Left Democratic Front workers’ allegation that votes were getting registered to the BJP.

11.23 am: Cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir, who is the BJP’s candidate in East Delhi, holds a roadshow before filing his nomination papers. “I really want to contribute something to the country and whatever our prime minister has done in the last 5 years, I want to take that legacy forward,” ANI quotes him as saying.

10.55 am: Anfiveti-corruption activist Anna Hazare casts his vote from Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra, reports ANI.

10.50 am: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav says that EVMs are malfunctioning across the country and calls it “criminal negligence for a polling exercise that costs” Rs 50,000 crore. “...Is something far more sinister afoot?” he asks.

10.41 am: The entire set of electronic voting machines has been replaced for polling station 31 in Assembly constituency 34 in Goa, says the office of the chief electoral officer.

10.31 am: BJP MP from the North West Delhi, Udit Raj, threatens to quit the party if he is denied a ticket. Tuesday is the last day to file nominations for the seat. The party has announced candidates for all other seats in the Capital.

Read more here:

BJP MP Udit Raj threatens to quit party if denied his North West Delhi seat

10.23 am: As of 10 am, 10.51% of the electorate have cast their vote in the third phase, according to the Election Commission.

  • Gujarat (26 seats): 10.31%
  • Assam (four seats): 12.36%
  • Bihar (five seats): 12.64%
  • Goa (two seats): 12.56%
  • Jammu and Kashmir (one seat): 1.59%
  • Karnataka (14 seats): 7.42%
  • Kerala (20 seats): 11.75%
  • Maharashtra (14 seats): 7.33%
  • Odisha (six seats): 7.15%
  • Tripura (one seat): 14.02%
  • Uttar Pradesh (10 seats): 10.36%
  • West Bengal (5 seats): 16.85%
  • Chhattisgarh (seven seats): 12.58%
  • Dadra and Nagar Haveli: 11.4%
  • Daman and Diu: 9.93%

10.10 am: Kerala Chief Electoral Officer Teeka Ram Meena has urged the public not to believe in rumours questioning the integrity of voting machines, reports The Hindu. The humidity caused by thunderstorms on Monday night has affected the functioning of the sensitive EVMs in a few booths in Thiruvananthapuram, Cherthala and Pathanamthitta, he adds.

10.04 am: Polling at a booth in Kandangal LP School in Mayyil, Kannur, was stopped after a snake was found inside the VVPAT machine, reports Manorama.

9.51 am: Shiromani Akali Dal fields party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal from Ferozepur while Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, his wife, has been nominated again from Bathinda, reports PTI. Sukhbir Singh Badal will face Akali rebel and Congress nominee Sher Singh Ghubaya.

9.48 am: BJP President Amit Shah, who is contesting from Gandhinagar, casts his vote in Ahmedabad.

9.41 am: The office of the Kerala chief electoral officer dismisses reports of EVM tampering at a booth in Kovalam. “There is a false news spreading that 151 polling booth Kovalam that every vote is being casted for lotus [the BJP’s symbol],” says a poll official. “Every media is carrying similar to the one that happened in ap. We double checked and no such thing is happening.”

9.36 am: Here is the voter turnout in third phase as of 9.15 am:

  • Gujarat (26 seats): 10.01%
  • Assam (four seats): 12.36%
  • Jammu and Kashmir (one seat): 1.59%
  • Karnataka (14 seats): 7.42%
  • Kerala (20 seats): 9.71%
  • Maharashtra (14 seats): 6.47%
  • Odisha (six seats): 7.15%
  • Tripura (one seat): 5.83%
  • Uttar Pradesh (10 seats): 10.36%
  • West Bengal (5 seats): 16.85%
  • Chhattisgarh (Seven seats): 12.58%
  • Dadra and Nagar Haveli: 7.6%
  • Daman and Diu: 9.75%

9.19 am: Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and his wife Anjali Rupani cast their vote at a polling booth in Rajkot.

9.16 am: Congress and CPI(M) workers protest after voting machines at a polling booth in Thiruvananthapuram malfunction.

9.08 am: Technical problems in electronic voting machines have been reported from a few polling booths in Belagavi in Karnataka, reports The Hindu. Fourteen of the state’s 28 Lok Sabha seats are voting today.

9.05 am: Voters have complained of slow speed and non-functional voting machines in Firozabad, Bareilly and Aonla in Uttar Pradesh. A booth in Firozabad reported problems with the voter verifiable paper audit trail, or VVPAT, reports Hindustan Times.

9.01 am: In Kerala, faulty electronic voting machines have interrupted polling at seven booths in Alathur, 11 booths in Palakkad, seven booths in Kasaragod and 10 booths in Pathanamthitta, reports Manorama. “Election Commission should have tested EVMs earlier,” the news website quotes Pinarayi Vijayan as saying.

8.57 am: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan says the fight in the state is between the ruling Left Democratic Front and the Congress-led United Democratic Front, reports The Hindu. The BJP will emerge third in all the constituencies in the state, he adds after casting his vote in his hometown Pinarayi in Kannur district.

8.52 am: In Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag constituency, where elections are being held in three phases, residents have stayed indoors so far, reports The HIndu. Polls in this constituency will close end at 4 pm.

8.47 am: After casting his vote in Ahmedabad, Prime Minister Narendra Modi says “the weapon of terrorism is IED, the strength of democracy is voter ID”, reports ANI.

8.44 am: The polling percentage in Bihar, where elections are being held in five seats, at 8 am was 4.3%, says the Election Commission.

8.40 am: Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati appeals to voters to participate in large numbers in voting today. “Voting is your invaluable constitutional right and which will help you choose a government of your choice and welfare to make your life happy,” she says on Twitter.

She says the people of the country, especially the educated and unemployed youth, do not want a BJP government that speaks about selling pakodas (fritters).

8.30 am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi casts his vote at a polling booth in Ranip in Ahmedabad. “Today third phase of polling is underway, I am fortunate that I also got the opportunity to fulfill my duty in my home state of Gujarat,” Modi tells reporters. “Like you feel pure after a holy dip in Kumbh, one feels pure after casting vote in this festival of democracy.”

8.15 am: Nationalist Congress Party’s Baramati candidate Supriya Sule casts her vote.

7.50 am: BJP President Amit Shah seen near the polling booth at Nishan Higher Secondary School in Ranip area of Ahmedabad. Shah is party’s candidate from Gandhinagar Parliamentary constituency.

7.45 am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi says he will be voting in Ahmedabad in a short while. “Urging all those voting in today’s Third Phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to do so in record numbers,” he says on Twitter. “Your vote is precious and will shape the direction our nation takes in the years to come.”

7.28 am: BS Yeddyurappa’s son and BJP MP candidate from Shimoga BY Raghvendra casts his vote at a polling booth in Shikaripura.

7.20 am: BJP President Amit Shah and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and several Union ministers are among the prominent candidates in the fray today.

7.18 am: The third phase is the largest of the seven phases of voting. Around 18.56 crore voters are eligible for voting in this phase. Nearly 2.10 lakh polling stations have been set up.

7.10 am: People queue up outside polling station number 224 in Dhubri Lok Sabha constituency in Assam to cast their votes. Four parliamentary constituencies in the state – Barpeta, Dhubri, Kokrajhar and Gauhati – will go to polls today.

7.05 am: Voting has begun for 117 constituencies in 13 states and two Union Territories in the third phase of Lok Sabha elections, ANI reports.

7 am: Here are the top updates from Monday:

  • The Election Commission on Monday banned Punjab minister and Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhufrom campaigning for 72 hours for his appeal to Muslims in a constituency in Bihar to vote unitedly against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the elections. The ban will come into force at 10 am on Tuesday.  
  • The Bharatiya Janata Partyon Monday announced that former cricketer Gautam Gambhir will be its candidate from East Delhi Parliamentary constituency, while current legislator Meenakshi Lekhi will contest from New Delhi again, PTI reported.
  • Maharashtra minister Pankaja Mundeon Sunday said that Congress President Rahul Gandhi should be tied to a bomb and sent to another country for questioning the Army’s recent air strike in Pakistan.
  • Biju Janata Dal legislator Pradeep Maharathy was arrested on Monday after he allegedly led an attack against a team of Election Commission officials who were conducting a raid on his farmhouse in Puri district of Odisha on Sunday, the Hindustan Times reported. 
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday accused the Opposition of falsely claiming that the government’s reservation policy will modified if the Bharatiya Janata Party returns to power. “Till Modi is here, nobody can touch the reservations, given to us by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar,” he said at an election rally in Nandurbar in Maharashtra.