In the sixth phase of Lok Sabha elections, 59.06 percent voting was recorded on Saturday in 58 constituencies of six states and two union territories. According to the data released by the Election Commission till 7:45 pm, Jharkhand recorded 62.74 percent voting, Uttar Pradesh 54.03 percent, Bihar 53.30 percent, Jammu and Kashmir 52.28 percent, Haryana 58.37 percent, Odisha 60.07 percent and Delhi 54.48 percent voting.
New Delhi: In the sixth phase of Lok Sabha elections, 59.06 percent voting was recorded on Saturday in 58 constituencies of six states and two union territories. In West Bengal’s Jangal Mahal area, 78.19 percent voters exercised their franchise. Minor incidents of clashes and protests were reported from West Bengal, while there were incidents of EVM malfunctioning in some places including Delhi.
According to the data released by the Election Commission till 7:45 pm, Jharkhand recorded 62.74 percent voting, Uttar Pradesh 54.03 percent, Bihar 53.30 percent, Jammu and Kashmir 52.28 percent, Haryana 58.37 percent, Odisha 60.07 percent and Delhi 54.48 percent voting. The commission said that the voting percentage in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag-Rajouri seat was the highest in many decades. With the completion of this phase, voting has now been completed on 486 seats in 28 states and union territories. Voting for the last phase of the seven phases is to be held on June 1 and counting will be done on June 4.
With large parts of India experiencing intense heat, arrangements for cold water, coolers, fans and tents were made at many polling booths. Wheelchairs were also placed to assist elderly voters. The Commission had directed its officials and state machinery to take adequate measures to deal with the adverse effects of the hot weather. There were over 11.13 crore voters in this phase, including 5.84 crore men, 5.29 crore women and 5120 third gender voters. The Commission had deployed around 11.4 lakh officials at 1.14 lakh polling booths.
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti, who is contesting from Anantnag-Rajouri seat in Jammu and Kashmir, staged a sit-in outside Bijbehara police station on Srinagar-Jammu national highway in Anantnag district against the alleged detention of her party workers and polling agents. Mufti also claimed that the facility of calling (outgoing call) from her mobile number has been suspended without any explanation. However, the police said that those detained are ‘overground workers’ (OGWs) and this action has been taken to ensure smooth conduct of elections.
Mehbooba’s daughter and PDP leader Iltija Mufti alleged that voting was being deliberately slowed down at a booth in the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency, but the administration denied the charge. In the national capital, President Draupadi Murmu, Union ministers S Jaishankar and Hardeep Singh Puri, Delhi government minister Atishi, Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and outgoing East Delhi MP Gautam Gambhir were among the voters who cast their votes at the start of polling.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Brinda Karat alleged she had to wait for nearly an hour to cast her vote as the battery in the EVM control unit at her polling booth “ran out”. The district election officer later said the battery was replaced within 15 minutes. Apart from all seven seats in Delhi, polling was held in 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, all 10 seats in Haryana, eight seats each in Bihar and West Bengal, six seats in Odisha, four seats in Jharkhand and one seat in Jammu and Kashmir.
Besides, polling was held for 42 assembly seats in Odisha and the Karnal assembly by-election in Haryana. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge urged voters to come out in large numbers to exercise their franchise. In Haryana, BJP candidate from Karnal Lok Sabha seat Manohar Lal Khattar and Chief Minister Naib Singh Saini, who is contesting the by-election from the Karnal assembly seat, were among the early voters at their respective booths. Saini, along with his family members, cast his vote at his native village Mirzapur Mazra in Naraingarh of Ambala district. Khattar exercised his franchise at a polling booth in Karnal’s Prem Nagar.
Voting took place in the tribal-dominated Jangal Mahal region spread across five districts in West Bengal. The region comprises Tamluk, Kanthi, Ghatal, Jhargram, Medinipur, Purulia, Bankura and Bishnupur seats. In the 2019 elections, BJP won five out of eight seats and TMC won three. Minor clashes broke out between TMC and BJP supporters in Ghatal constituency over preventing polling agents from entering the booths. In Medinipur constituency, BJP candidate Agnimitra Paul faced “go back” slogans from TMC workers. After this, clashes broke out between BJP and TMC workers, central forces reached the spot to disperse the crowd.
A group of people raised slogans against BJP candidate and former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay upon reaching a polling booth in Tamluk. Voting took place in Sultanpur, Pratapgarh, Phulpur, Allahabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Shravasti, Dumariyaganj, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Lalganj, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Machhlishahr and Bhadohi seats in Uttar Pradesh. Around 82.16 lakh voters, including 40.09 lakh women, were eligible to exercise their franchise in Jharkhand’s Giridih, Dhanbad, Ranchi and Jamshedpur constituencies.
In a bid to boost polling percentage at urban polling booths in Ranchi, the district administration tied up with a bike-taxi service to provide free ferry facility to voters. A total of 86 candidates were in the fray in the eight Lok Sabha seats in Bihar — Valmiki Nagar, West Champaran, East Champaran, Sheohar, Vaishali, Gopalganj, Siwan and Maharajganj. Officials said 107 people were arrested or detained for allegedly trying to disrupt the polling process in the state. Security forces seized Rs 2.86 crore in cash and 3.53 lakh litres of liquor worth Rs 9.46 crore from various places in the eight parliamentary constituencies during the day.
(agency)
