Indian Election started with 14 Attacks and 17 life
Attacks by Maoist Rebels in India Leave 17 Dead as Election Begins
NEW DELHI, April 16 — Violence marred the start of the month-long national election in the world’s largest democracy Thursday, as Indian voters cast ballots to choose a new government that will confront the twin challenges of the global economic slowdown and the growing threat of terrorism.
In 14 attacks on polling stations and vehicles carrying election officials, 17 people were killed in eastern and central India. The strikes were blamed on Maoist insurgents, who used land mines and rocket launchers. The Maoist groups had called for an election boycott in several areas and had vowed to disrupt the vote.
India’s election commission said voter turnout ranged from 46 to 86 percent of the 140 million eligible voters in the 17 states that went to the polls Thursday. The turnout was lower in areas affected by violence.
The staggered, five-phase national election, which ends May 13, will cost an estimated $2 billion, with about 714 million voters. Vote-counting is scheduled for May 16, with 543 lawmakers being chosen for the lower house of Parliament. More than 6 million security and civil officials are responsible for helping to oversee the elections, and 1.3 million voting machines will be used.
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India Completes First Phase of Voting in National Election
At least 18 people were killed as India’s voters cast ballots in the first part of a five-stage election in the world’s largest democracy. More than 2.5 million security officers were on duty in the 15 Indian states and two territories where balloting took place. Polling was disrupted in several states, where attacks were launched on polling booths and security forces.
For the 15th time since independence, Indians have begun choosing their national lawmakers.
Security was especially heavy in several central and eastern states, where Maoist insurgents, known as Naxalites, disrupted some polling by killing election officials and soldiers, and burning voting stations.
Deputy National Election Commissioner R. Balakrishnan said violence or other types of disruptions affected 86 polling stations – a tiny fraction of the total.
Local Issues Dominate as India Votes
HYDERABAD, India — India began voting Thursday in one of its messiest elections in recent years, with no reliable forecast of who would prevail in campaigns that stressed hyper-local issues rather than the overall direction of the country.
Neither the governing Indian National Congress nor the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party is likely to prevail without making deals with a host of ambitious smaller party bosses, who are expected to drive hard bargains for a shot at power.
More than 714 million people are eligible to vote in India, where elections over the next four weeks will determine the selection of 543 members of Parliament. Results are to be announced on May 16. Initial reports from the Central Election Commission indicated turnouts as high as 86 percent in some places, even in the scorching heat.
There has already been scattered violence. Maoists in India’s destitute central and eastern belt called for a boycott of the elections and have carried out a series of deadly attacks in the past week. On Thursday, 18 people, including 11 security officers, were killed in separate attacks in three states. More than two million security personnel members have been deployed nationwide.
India starts marathon vote, weak coalition seen
* Over 140 million people eligible to vote in first stage
* Election comes at time of economic slowdown
* Turnout estimated at around 60 percent
* Maoist rebels kill five poll officials, 11 police
By Krittivas Mukherjee
VARANASI, India, April 16 (Reuters) – From the snowbound Chinese border to holy Ganges cities, tens of millions of Indians began voting on Thursday in a month-long election with signs that an unstable coalition may emerge in the middle of an economic slowdown.
The ruling Congress party-led coalition appears to lead against an alliance headed by the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but both may need the support of a host of smaller and unpredictable regional parties to win office.
Maoist rebel violence marred the mostly peaceful vote, with five election officials killed in a landmine blast in Chhattisgarh state. Eleven police were killed across the central and eastern “red belt” where Thursday’s election was centred.
India’s Election Commission estimated Thursday’s preliminary voter turnout at 58-62 percent.
The main fear among investors is that the world’s largest democratic exercise, involving 714 million voters and hundreds of parties, will lead to the rise of a “Third Front” government of communist and regional groups.
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