Polling for Phase 6 Lok Sabha elections underway, 57.7% voters make it to booths till 5 pm

In the sixth and penultimate phase of the Lok Sabha election, voters are casting their ballots across 58 seats in seven states and one Union Territory. Both Delhi and Haryana are conducting their voting in a single phase. After today, only 57 seats will remain to be contested in the final phase.

By 11 am, a voter turnout of 25.8 percent was recorded across these 58 constituencies. The figure rose to 49.2 percent by 3pm. Till 5 pm, the voter turnout climbed to 57.7 percent.

The voting on Saturday covers eight seats each in Bihar and West Bengal, seven in Delhi, 10 in Haryana, four in Jharkhand, 14 in Uttar Pradesh and the last seat in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag-Rajouri, where polling was shifted from the third to the sixth phase. Additionally, Odisha is selecting representatives for 42 assembly constituencies and six Lok Sabha seats.

Unwavering Spirit!

Listen to a 90-year-old voter from Motihari, Bihar, on the importance of voting.

Hurry up and visit your polling station to cast your vote.

@CEOBihar#ChunavKaParv #DeshKaGarv #GeneralElections2024 #LokSabhaElections2024 pic.twitter.com/K56EfM7OC9

— Election Commission of India (@ECISVEEP) May 25, 2024

By the end of the day, the Lok Sabha elections will have been completed for 486 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats. This phase will also conclude polling in Haryana, Delhi, and Jammu and Kashmir.

The national capital, Delhi, is witnessing one of the most intense contests, with the BJP aiming to retain all seven seats it won in 2019. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), led by Arvind Kejriwal, is challenging the BJP with its “Jail Ka Jawab Vote Se” campaign and is contesting four seats, while its ally, Congress, is contesting three.

This phase is critical for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which aims to maintain its performance to achieve its “400-plus” seat target. In the 2019 elections, the BJP secured 40 of the 58 seats up for grabs today, with its allies adding five more.

CEC Rajiv Kumar votes this morning in General Elections 2024; says adequate arrangements have been made in view of hot weather; appeals to voters to turn up to vote#ChunavKaParv#DeshkaGarv pic.twitter.com/DQvgUZEOOL

— Spokesperson ECI (@SpokespersonECI) May 25, 2024

The opposition INDIA bloc, comprising Trinamool Congress, National Conference, and Samajwadi Party, managed to win five seats in the same phase last time, while Congress won none.

The Bahujan Samaj Party, which was allied with the Samajwadi Party in 2019 but is now running independently, and Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal also had some successes.

Key candidates in this phase include BJP’s Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan from Sambalpur, Manohar Lal Khattar from Karnal, Sambit Patra from Puri, Maneka Gandhi from Sultanpur, Bansuri Swaraj, daughter of the late Union Minister Sushma Swaraj, from New Delhi, Manoj Tiwari from North East Delhi, and industrialist Naveen Jindal from Kurukshetra.

On the opposition side, notable candidates include former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti from Anantnag, actor-turned-politician Raj Babbar from Gurgaon, Deepender Singh Hooda from Rohtak, and former JNU student union president Kanhaiya Kumar from North East Delhi.

Votes will be counted on June 4, following the conclusion of the final phase of the election on June 1.