Polling kicks off for 6th phase of Lok Sabha elections
The polling for the sixth and penultimate phase of the Lok Sabha elections kicked off on Saturday. As many as 58 constituencies—including seven from the national capital—are voting to select the fate of 889 candidates. The sixth phase will also include the polling in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag-Rajouri constituency, which was adjourned during Phase 3. Notably, the first five phases—April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, and May 20—saw voter turnouts of 66.1, 66.7, 61, 67.3 and 60.5%, respectively.
Key candidates and constituencies in the sixth phase
Among the prominent candidates is Kanhaiya Kumar, a former student leader and fierce critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is challenging sitting MP Manoj Tiwari, a regional Bhojpuri language cinema actor and singer, in the North East Delhi constituency. Meanwhile, Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan is seeking to enter the Lok Sabha from Sambalpur in the eastern state of Odisha. Other notable candidates are: Maneka Gandhi, Mehbooba Mufti, Abhijit Gangopadhyay, Sambit Patra, and Raj Babbar.
States going to polls on Saturday
Here's a list of states going to polls in the sixth phase: Haryana (10 seats), Jharkhand (4), Odisha (6), Uttar Pradesh (14), Bihar (8), West Bengal (8), Delhi (7), Jammu and Kashmir (1). Voting began at 7am and will end at 6pm. Voters already in the queue by the time polls close will get to vote even if that means keeping polling stations open longer. The seventh and final phase of the election will be held on June 1.
First 5 phases saw polling on 429 seats
The first five phases of the Lok Sabha elections have already decided the fate of 429 MPs. So far, voting has concluded for all seats in the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Karnataka, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Telangana, Nagaland, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, and union territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands; Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Ladakh, Lakshadweep and Puducherry.
ECI ensures heatwave precautions at polling booths
Amid the heatwave and "red alert" in parts of North India, there are concerns that voter turnout might get affected. The Election Commission of India has said that necessary arrangements are in place at polling booths to help voters manage the heat. Vishwas Chitale, senior program lead at the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), advised people to carry an umbrella or a cap and sunglasses, carry sufficient drinking water before stepping out.
