Over 100 security personnel were injured; there were also two incidents of firing in MP bypolls
Women come out of a polling station after casting their vote in Srinagar. Pic/PTI
New Delhi: Violence marred the polling in Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency yesterday with eight people killed in firing by security forces while incidents of firing were reported from two places in Ater Assembly seat in Madhya Pradesh.
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However, bypolls in two Assembly constituencies each in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, one each in West Bengal, Assam, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi passed off peacefully. In all, by-elections were held in nine Assembly constituencies in six states, besides the Srinagar parliamentary seat.
Stone-pelting was reported from over two dozen places across the three districts of Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal which constitute the Srinagar constituency. The main contestants for the seat are Farooq Abdullah, the joint candidate of the National Conference and the Congress, and Nazir Ahmad Khan, the ruling PDP's nominee.
Army was called in to assist security forces control a rampaging mob which pelted stones and hurled petrol bombs to set a polling booth ablaze in Ganderbal.
More than 100 security force personnel were injured in the violence, officials said, adding that several civilians were also injured in police firing.
While two persons each were killed in Pakherpora in Chrar-e-Sharief, Beerwah and Chadoora areas of Budgam district and one person died in the district's Magam town. Another person was killed in Barsoo in Ganderbal district.
J-K Chief Electoral Officer Shantmanu said a poor 6.5 per cent polling took place in the parliamentary seat.
Firing in MP
Firing incidents were also reported from two places in Madhya Pradesh after Congress and BJP workers clashed during the by-election in Ater Assembly seat.
Six people were injured in the clashes of whom five were discharged after first aid. One person was referred to a hospital in Gwalior for treatment, hospital sources said. The MP election commission, however, dismissed reports of booth capturing and said security was tightened after the incidents. There was 65 per cent polling in Bandhavgarh and 60 per cent in Ater in MP where the BJP is in office.
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