INDIA COMPLETES PART 2 ELECTION

P.VIJAYAN

LUCKNOW, April 24 (Bernama) -- About 190 million voters cast their votes in
India's phase II general elections in 13 states, including Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh casting his vote in north-east state of Assam.

In the second phase 141 parliamentary seats are up for grabs and 2,041
candidates are contesting in the marathon elections, divided into five phases
and spread over a month.

Other popular political figures in the fray today are Rahul Gandhi,
defending his Amethi seat in Uttar Pradesh, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar in
Mada, Maharashtra, former Defence Minister George Fernandes in Muzaffarpur,
Bihar.

The high profile Commerce and Industry minister Kamal Nath, contesting in
Chhindwara constituency in Madhya Pradesh, had even hired a magician to woo
voters.

The second round of elections is being held under tight security, after
Maoists killed 18 people in the first phase on April 16, mainly to discourage
voters to go for the polls.

Despite the security threats and the summer scorching heat, which had
crossed 40 degrees Celsius in most northern states, voters, especially in rural
areas,queued long hours to exercise their democratic right to vote.

"Elections is big passion in India, only through the electoral process the
voices of the backward classes can be heard.

"It is a serious proposition for the common man, it makes them feel
powerful.

It empowers the poor and the marginalised in a democracy like India,"
Ashutosh Misra, a political analyst from Lucknow University told Bernama.

India is holding its 15th general elections since independence, on staggered
basis, which started on April 16 and ends on May 13.
-- BERNAMA