NEW DELHI, SEPT 5: The Kargil fever and the aggressive campaigning by both sides apparently failed to enthuse voters, at least in the first phase of the polls that ended today. Election fatigue combined with voter apathy and monsoon rains resulting in a turnout just under 55 per cent.Delhi's usually lethargic electorate registered a 47 per cent turnout, 5 points lower than last year's 52 per cent. The contrasts were sharpest in Jammu and Kashmir, where two constituencies went to the polls in the first phase of polling. While Srinagar had an abysmally low voter turnout of 15 per cent with several examples of forced voting, Ladakh and Kargil witnessed over 70 per cent voters turning up to exercise their franchise.Polls were largely peaceful in the 145 Lok Sabha constituencies, except for violence between activists of the ruling Telugu Desam Party and rival Congress in Cuddapah district of Andhra Pradesh which left five people dead.A TDP polling agent R Balreddy was killed when a crude bomb was hurledat a polling station in Ankireddipalli in Cuddapah, while four others died when police opened fire to disperse battling TDP and Congress activists.After reports of booth capturing and snatching of ballot boxes, the Election Commission ordered a repoll in some 70 polling stations in Andhra Pradesh.Election Commission sources said repolls were also likely in eight polling stations in Karnataka and one in Rajasthan.Chief Election Commissioner M S Gill declared his satisfaction with the way things had gone. After going over the list of 16 states and Union Territories that went to polls in the first phase, Gill's assessment was a succinct ``all very boring. Nothing to report.''Voter turnout was around 62 per cent in 1998, up four percent from the figure of 58 per cent in 1996. Of course this is only the first phase of polling and the Election Commission is hopeful that people's interest will be spiked up in the next four phases of the polls that extend right upto October 3.In the high-profileBellary constituency in Karnataka, where the mother of all electoral battles is being fought between Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her BJP rival Sushma Swaraj, the turnout hovered around 60 per cent. State electoral authorities said the turnout in Bellary was between 65 and 70 per cent, though the central Nirvachan Sadan headquarters pegged it at a more modest 60 per cent.In the other notable contest, between Home Minister L K Advani and former Chief Election Commissioner T N Seshan in Gandhinagar in Gujarat, the turnout ranged around 45 per cent, though the exact figures had not come in.Monsoon rains too played havoc, with Goa registering a low 45 per cent turnout after heavy rains kept voters indoors. But it could also be a case of election fatigue in Goa, which elected a new Assembly in February this year. In Andaman and Nicobar islands repolls will be held in 6 polling stations as due to rough seas, polling boxes could not be moved in time to some of the outlying islands.Daman and Diuregistered a high 70 per cent turnout while in neighbouring Gujarat polling was around 40 per cent, reflecting once again the disinterest of the state's voters in Parliamentary polls. Polling was around 65 per cent in Andhra Pradesh, 62 per cent in Haryana, 63 per cent in Karnataka and 55 per cent each in Punjab, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.The first phase of the polls was also to occasion for the EC to test the efficacy of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) on a large scale in some 30,000 polling stations in 21 Parliamentary constituencies across the country.The results according to Gill was extremely positive from all the polling stations, including two in the border areas of Faridkot and Tarn Taran in Punjab. ``Over 25 million voters cast their vote using the electronic machines. And there was no problem,'' said Gill.But the turnout tilting to the lower side did raise concerns at Nirvachan Sadan.
