Voting begins in 57 constituencies on last day of polls
(Online Desk)
Polling begins for the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha elections today with voters in 57 parliamentary constituencies across eight states and Union Territories casting their ballot to elect the new government. The phase will witness polling for several key constituencies, including Varanasi, which has in the last two elections, become Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bastion. The PM, in a post on X this morning, appealed to specifically to the young voters and women to turnout in record numbers to exercise their franchise.
In 2019, the parties which are a part of the Opposition INDIA bloc won 19 seats out of the 57 going to polls tomorrow, with a vote share of 37.52% . The ruling BJP-led -led NDA won 30 seats, receiving 39.03% of the votes. The BJP alone won 25 of these constituencies, with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Congress winning nine and eight seats respectively.
The voter turnout for the last six phases of the Lok Sabha elections, as released by the Election Commission of India, stands at – 66.14 per cent for Phase 1, 66.71 per cent for Phase 2, 65.68 per cent for Phase 3, 69.16 per cent for Phase 4, 62.20 per cent for Phase 5 and 63.37 per cent for Phase 6.
KOLKATA: Polling in the seventh and last phase of Lok Sabha elections to nine seats in West Bengal began at 7 am on Saturday amid tight security arrangements, an Election Commission of India (ECI) official said.
Voting in Dum Dum, Barasat, Basirhat, Jaynagar, Mathurapur, Diamond Harbour, Jadavpur, Kolkata Dakshin and Kolkata Uttar seats will continue till 6 pm, he added.
A total of 1.63 crore voters, including 83.19 lakh men, 80.20 lakh women and 538 persons of the third gender, are eligible to exercise their franchise at 17,470 polling stations.
BHUBANESWAR: Polling commenced for six Lok Sabha constituencies and 42 assembly seats in Odisha on Saturday morning, amid tight security, a poll official said.
Voting began at 7 am in Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, and Jagatsinghpur Lok Sabha seats, along with the 42 assembly segments that constitute these parliamentary constituencies.
Polling will continue till 6 pm as there are no Maoist-hit zones under these Lok Sabha seats, the official added.
RANCHI: Voting for three Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand commenced on Saturday, amid tight security, officials said.
Polling began at 7 am in Dumka, Rajmahal, and Godda, and will continue till 5 pm.
A total of 52 candidates, including eight women, are contesting in this final phase, the state’s fourth and the seventh nationwide. Nineteen candidates each are competing in Dumka and Godda, while Rajmahal has 14 contestants.
PATNA: Polling commenced on Saturday morning for eight Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar, along with the by-election to the Agiaon assembly seat, to determine the fate of 134 candidates.
Voting began at 7 am in Patna Sahib, Pataliputra, Arrah, Karakat, Jehanabad, Buxar, Nalanda, and Jehanabad Lok Sabha seats and will continue till 6 pm.
Over 1.6 crore people in these eight seats are eligible to cast their votes to decide the electoral fate of the candidates, a senior official said.
CHANDIGARH: Polling began on Saturday morning for 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in Punjab and the lone Chandigarh seat in the seventh and final phase of parliamentary elections.
Amid tight security arrangements, polling began at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm, said the officials.
INDIA bloc allies — the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) — are contesting separately while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) are contesting the Lok Sabha polls on their own for the first time since 1996.
