A turnout of 58.30 per cent was recorded in the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Saturday, the Election Commission (ECI) said. Elections are being held in 57 constituencies spread across seven states and the Union Territory of Chandigarh, including Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a third consecutive term in the Lok Sabha.
Voting will be held in 13 seats in Punjab and four in Himachal Pradesh, 13 constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, nine in West Bengal, eight in Bihar, six in Odisha and three in Jharkhand, besides Chandigarh. Elections for the remaining 42 Assembly constituencies in Odisha and by-elections for six Assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh are also being held simultaneously.
A voter turnout of nearly 60.14 per cent was recorded in Jharkhand. Uttar Pradesh recorded a voting percentage of 46.83, West Bengal 58.46, Bihar 42.95 and Himachal Pradesh 58.41. Chandigarh recorded a vote percentage of 52.61 and Odisha recorded around 49.77 per cent votes. Sporadic incidents of violence were reported in West Bengal as TMC and BJP workers clashed in several parts of Jadavpur and Diamond Harbor constituencies.
A clash broke out in Bhangar, within the Jadavpur constituency, between supporters of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Indian Secular Front (ISF), when the parties alleged that their polling agents were prevented from entering the booths and that both sides were throwing crude bombs. Police intervention followed, sparking new protests as both factions continued to accuse each other.
To quell the situation, the security personnel resorted to a lathi charge and seized several crude bombs. Voting began at 7 in the morning. Images show voters queuing in front of the polling stations from early in the morning, despite the severe heat waves that hit several parts of the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to the people to exercise their right to vote. “Together, let us make our democracy more vibrant and participatory,” the Prime Minister said in X.
“Today is the final phase of Lok Sabha elections 2024. As 57 seats across 8 states and UTs go to polls, voters are asked to turn out in large numbers and vote. I hope that young voters and women will exercise their right to vote in record numbers,” she added. Other prominent candidates among the 904 in the fray include Union Minister Anurag Thakur, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad’s daughter Misa Bharti and actor Kangana Ranaut. .
More than 10.06 million citizens, including nearly 5.24 million men, 4.82 million women and 3,574 third-gender voters, are eligible to vote in this phase. Saturday’s vote will mark the end of the marathon electoral process that began on April 19. The Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim assemblies also went to polls. The counting of votes will begin on June 4. In Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, the counting of Assembly elections will take place on June 2.
According to EC guidelines, television channels and media outlets will be able to publish exit poll data and their results after 6:30 p.m. on these days. The electoral panel has asked voters to turn out in greater numbers and vote responsibly and proudly. The turnout in the first six phases of the general elections was 66.14 percent, 66.71 percent, 65.68 percent, 69.16 percent, 62.2 percent and 63.36 percent respectively.
In the campaign for the last phase, which ended on Thursday afternoon, leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Modi, accused Congress and INDIA’s opposition bloc of being corrupt, anti-Hindu and participating in looting, appeasement and dynastic. policy. Opposition parties have been claiming that the BJP is against farmers and youth and will change and scrap the Constitution if it wins the elections.
Elections are also being held in eight Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar, along with the bypoll for the Agiaon Assembly seat. Union Minister RK Singh and former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad are among the contenders in the fray.
Dumka, Rajmahal and Godda seats in Jharkhand will go to polls in this phase. All eyes are on Dumka, where BJP’s Sita Soren, sister-in-law of jailed former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, is contesting against Nalin Soren of the INDIA block. Sita Soren, a former three-term Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) legislator, joined the BJP just before the Lok Sabha elections.
Elections are underway for six Lok Sabha and 42 Assembly seats in Odisha. Assembly Speaker Pramila Mallik, government chief whip Prashant Muduli, Odisha BJP chief Manmohan Samal and BJP national vice-president Baijayant Panda are among the candidates in the fray. Dum Dum, Barasat, Basirhat, Jaynagar, Mathurapur, Diamond Harbour, Jadavpur, Kolkata Dakshin and Kolkata Uttar seats in West Bengal are also being polled.
Several heavyweight candidates, including incumbent Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Sougata Roy and Mala Roy, former Union minister Debasree Chaudhuri of the BJP and CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty, are in the fray. Voting is underway in 13 constituencies of Uttar Pradesh, which sends the highest number of 80 members among all states to the Lok Sabha.
In Punjab, INDIA block allies — the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) — are contesting the elections separately, while the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) are fighting alone in the polls for the first time since 1996. .
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