NEW DELHI: Over 60% voter turnout was recorded for the sixth and penultimate phase of the Lok Sabha elections held on Saturday. As many as 58 seats across eight states and Union Territories (UTs), including all 10 seats in Haryana and seven in Delhi, voted in this round of polling.
Several politicians and prominent personalities, including President Droupadi Murmu, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Union minister S Jaishankar, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, and Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were among others who cast their votes in the national capital.
Stakes are high for the BJP-led NDA as it won 40 seats out of the 58 in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Though the other INDIA bloc partners won five seats in 2019, the Congress scored a duck. With six phases of the election now concluded, voting for 486 seats is over.
The contest in Delhi and Haryana is crucial for the Opposition parties, as they hope to increase the tally in these states. The contest in the national capital is keenly watched as the INDIA bloc parties—the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)—take on the BJP. While the BJP, which swept all seven seats of Delhi in 2014 and 2019 and is looking for a hat-trick, the Opposition is fighting tooth and nail. The AAP is contesting four seats while the Congress has fielded candidates in three seats as per their seat-sharing agreement.
While the BJP won all 10 seats in Haryana in 2019, the Congress is hoping to make a dent this time due to factors such as anti-incumbency and the anger among the farmers.
Rajouri record
While West Bengal recorded the highest turnout at 78.20%, that for J&K’s Anantnag-Rajouri stood at 52.92%, the highest in 40 years. Uttar Pradesh’s turnout was 54.03% and Haryana's was 59.28%, according to the EC’s voter turnout app at 9.45 pm