India Votes in Last Main Phase of General Election

[Joydeep Mitra]

India Votes in Last Main Phase of General Election

By REUTERS: February 28, 1998: New York Times: <let...@nytimes.com>

BOMBAY - India went to the polls on Saturday in the last major phase
of a staggered mid-term general election that has been marred by violence.

Polling opened amid tight security in the nation's financial capital
Bombay, hit on Friday by a series of three bombs that killed four people
and injured at least 14,.

The voting began at 7 a.m. (0130 GMT) as daylight was breaking over
the city, and officials said early voter turnout was low.

"Only 10 or 12 people have come to vote since we opened 40 minutes ago,"
said M.A. Vaghuli, a polling officer in Bombay's northeast suburb of Chembur.

Witnesses said voters in this constituency were given a ballot paper
listing the names and election symbols of 23 candidates, the symbols
ranging from spectacles to an elephant.

Election staff dabbed a dot of indelible ink on the index finger of people
as they stepped out of the booth to indicate they had voted.

In Dharavi, a slum said to be the largest in Asia, armed policemen
guarded polling booths, witnesses said.

The police were maintaining a strict vigil and were towing away any
unattended vehicles parked near the polling booths, they said.

The three bombs that shook Bombay on Friday had exploded in crowded
public places.

Officials had said the blasts may have been aimed at sabotaging the voting.
Police said one person had so far been arrested but it was not yet clear
who was responsible.

Saturday's voting in 131 of the 543 seats at stake in the lower house
of parliament marks a near completion of the polling process in the
world's largest democracy.

All but six of the 543 constituencies being contested in the general
elections will have voted by the end of the day.

The Press Trust of India reported heavy security in the southern city
of Coimbatore, which was among the areas voting on Saturday and where at
least 60 people died in a series of bombings in that city earlier this month.

Nationwide, 147 people have died since February 14 in the violence-ridden
election, and officials in Bombay said that may be a reason for the low
voter turnout.

"Maybe it is because of the bomb blasts yesterday, or maybe because it is
the second election in such a short time," said a polling officer in Dharavi.

This is India's second general election in as many years.

The elections, involving more than 600 million voters, began on February 16.
Counting of votes is expected to begin on Monday and the shape of the next
parliament is expected to become clear within two days.