NEW DELHI: The sixth phase of voting in the ongoing Lok Sabha election has begun in 58 seats across seven states and one Union Territory (UT). Delhi and Haryana are voting in a single phase. Lok Sabha and Assembly elections are being held simultaneously in Odisha.
Till 1pm, 39.1% voter turnout was recorded. The highest voter turnout in Phase 6 was recorded in West Bengal over 52% and the lowest turnout was reported from Delhi at 34.4%.
By the end of today, elections will be completed in 486 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats. Polling will also be completed in Haryana, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir. The Election Commission has asked poll officers and authorities to take adequate measure to mitigate the effects of rising temperatures in Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh due to a heatwave across north India.
Voters in the following seven states and one union territory will cast their ballots: Eight seats each in Bihar and Bengal, seven in Delhi, 10 in Haryana, four in Jharkhand, 14 in Uttar Pradesh, and the final seat in Jammu & Kashmir — Anantnag-Rajouri, where poling was moved from the third to the sixth phase.
Some of the key seats in this phase include New Delhi, North-East Delhi, North-West Delhi and Chandni Chowk in the national capital and Sultanpur and Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh. Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag-Rajouri, West Bengal’s Tamluk, Medinipur, Haryana’s Karnal, Kurukshetra, Gurgaon, Rohtak and Odisha’s Bhubaneswar, Puri and Sambalpur are some of the other key seats.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged voters to exercise their right to franchise in the penultimate phase of the Lok Sabha elections in large numbers.
“I urge all those who are voting in the 6th phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections to vote in large numbers. Every vote counts, make yours count too! Democracy thrives when its people are engaged and active in the electoral process. I especially urge women voters and youth voters to vote in large numbers,” he tweeted.
Over 11.13 crore voters — 5.84 crore male, 5.29 crore female and 5,120 third gender — are eligible to exercise their franchise. The Election Commission has deployed around 11.4 lakh polling officials at 1.14 lakh polling stations.