India

Lok Sabha Polls Phase 6: 63.48% voting in penultimate phase of polling, WB records highest turnout with 80.35%

Penultimate phase of polling.

Reported By:| Edited By: DNA Web Team |Source: DNA webdesk |Updated: May 12, 2019, 11:23 PM IST

Polling in full swing at a booth in Delhi (PTI)

Over 63 percent turnout was recorded in 59 seats across six states and the national capital.

Elections were held in 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, 10 seats in Haryana, eight constituencies each in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, four in Jharkhand and seven seats in Delhi where votes were cast by a number of public figures, including President Ram Nath Kovind, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

With today's polling, votes have already been cast in nearly 89 percent of the 543 constituencies, while the last phase of voting will take place on May 19 for the remaining 59 seats.

The Election Commission (EC) said 63.48 percent turnout across the states and Delhi, with West Bengal recording over 80 percent polling and Delhi registering just 60 percent. In 2014, it was 63.37 percent, it said.

The EC said the polling percentage was recorded at 9 pm. The figure is provisional and the figure may rise as voting was going on in some places, it said.

Union ministers Radha Mohan Singh, Harsh Vardhan and Maneka Gandhi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Congress leaders Digvijay Singh, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sheila Dikshit as also celebrity contestants Gautam Gambhir, Vijender Singh, Dinesh Lal Yadav 'Nirahua', Ravi Kishan and Hans Raj Hans were among several prominent faces in the fray.

Delhi saw a dip in its turnout from 65 percent in 2014, despite a three-cornered contest among the BJP, Congress and AAP with several high profile candidates, while the EC also appeared disappointed at the low polling figure even after its enhanced efforts to draw the voters to polling booths.

BJP candidate Bharati Ghosh was attacked in West Bengal and a poll officer was allegedly beaten up by an MLA of the saffron party in Uttar Pradesh during the Lok Sabha poll's sixth Sunday.

Glitches in EVMs were reported in Delhi, and the other places where polling took place. However, poll officials said the voting machines were replaced.

Compared to 84.95 percent in 2014, this time 80.35 percent polling was recorded in eight seats in West Bengal, where BJP's Ghatal candidate and former IPS officer Bharati Ghosh was attacked twice by local people when she tried to visit polling stations in her constituency.

Following this, bombs were hurled and stones were pelted towards her convoy when she was going to visit another booth at Dogachia in Keshpur after receiving complaints of rigging there.

One of her security guards was injured and a vehicle was damaged, they said.

Watch Zee News Live TV for all the latest updates:

In the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, 54 per cent polling was reported in 14 constituencies.

SP president Akhilesh Yadav and Maneka Gandhi are in the fray in the state that sends 80 members to Lok Sabha.

Maneka Gandhi and her rival BSP candidate Chandra Bhadra Singh had a face-off in Sultanpur, with the BJP leader warning him that hooliganism will not work. Singh dismissed her charge.

BJP MLA Dinanath Bhaskar and four others allegedly beat up a presiding officer in the Aurai assembly segment in Badohi, accusing the official of deliberately slowing the polling process. Poll officials have sought a report on the matter.

Akhilesh is trying to retain his father and SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav's seat against Bhojpuri film star 'Nirahua' of the BJP in Azamgarh.

In Bihar, around 59.38 per cent turnout was recorded for the eight Lok Sabha seats. A polling officer was killed at a booth in a freak incident of firing by a home guard before polling started in Sheohar constituency.

EVM malfunctioning was reported from a few booths. Haryana recorded around 67.35 percent turnout in 10 Lok Sabha seats and officials said no untoward incident was reported and polling remained peaceful in the state.

However, Congress' Rohtak candidate Deepender Singh Hooda, who is seeking re-election for a fourth term, accused Haryana Minister and Rohtak MLA Manish Grover of "intimidating" voters by forcibly entering some polling booths.

Grover, however, rejected the charge claiming that Deepender, who is the son of former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, made baseless allegations in the face of "imminent defeat". Union ministers Rao Inderjit Singh and Krishan Pal Gurjar are among the 223 candidates in fray in Haryana. In Jharkhand, an estimated 65.17 percent turnout was recorded for four Lok Sabha seat. Officials said no untoward incident was reported.

Madhya Pradesh, which recorded 64.01 percent turnout, saw several heavyweights contesting the polls. Eight constituencies went to polls Sunday. In Bhopal, Congress veteran Digvijay Singh was locked in a battle with BJP candidate and 2008 Malegaon blast accused Pragya Singh Thakur.

Congress general secretary Scindia, who is seeking re-election from Guna seat, is locked in a battle with BJP's K P Yadav, who is contesting his first general election. Former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his family members voted at their native village Jait in Vidisha Lok Sabha seat.

Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar, who is the sitting MP from Gwalior, is contesting from Morena. Over 10.17 crore people were eligible to decide the fate of 979 candidates. The EC had set up over 1.13 lakh polling stations for smooth conduct of the polls.

(With inputs from agencies)

Highlights of Lok Sabha election phase 6 polling

LIVE Blog

12 May 2019

09:09 PM

Lok Sabha election 2019 phase 6 voter-turnout 9 pm — Total: 63.06%

Bihar: 59.29%
Haryana: 67.06%
Madhya Pradesh: 64.35%
Uttar Pradesh: 54.33%
West Bengal: 80.35%
Jharkhand: 64.50%
NCT of Delhi: 59.30%

07:14 PM

Lok Sabha election 2019 phase 6 voter-turnout 8 pm — Total: 62.27%

Bihar: 59.24%
Haryana: 65.48%
Madhya Pradesh: 62.06%
Uttar Pradesh: 54.24%
West Bengal: 80.16%
Jharkhand: 64.50%
NCT of Delhi: 58.01%

06:36 PM

Lok Sabha election 2019 phase 6 voter-turnout 7pm — Total: 61.14%

Bihar: 59.29%
Haryana: 62.91%
Madhya Pradesh: 60.40%
Uttar Pradesh: 45.89%
West Bengal: 80.16%
Jharkhand: 64.46%
NCT of Delhi: 56.11%

06:34 PM

An attempt was made to attack Sanjay Jaiswal (in red kurta), BJP candidate from West Champaran Parliamentary Constituency, with sticks outside polling booth no. 162, 163 in Narkatiaganj. He was unhurt.

#WATCH: Narkatiaganj: An attempt was made to attack Sanjay Jaiswal (in red kurta), BJP candidate from West Champaran Parliamentary Constituency, with sticks outside polling booth no. 162, 163. He is unhurt. #Bihar #LokSabhaElections2019 pic.twitter.com/sxL3YWyAT7
— ANI (@ANI) May 12, 2019

Speaking on the incident, Bihar Chief Electoral Officer HR Srinivasa said, "An instigating speech was made after which situation got heated. Police immediately intervened, now everything is going on peacefully. I'll take a report. There were sticks in some people's hands, the MP's bodyguard had also fired in the air."

Bihar Chief Electoral Officer HR Srinivasa: An instigating speech was made after which situation got heated. Police immediately intervened,now everything is going on peacefully. I'll take a report. There were sticks in some people's hands, MP's bodyguard had also fired in the air pic.twitter.com/yy9ZMp7KfK
— ANI (@ANI) May 12, 2019

05:28 PM

BJP candidate of Bankura Dr Subhas Sarkar car has been allegedly attacked in Bengal. His party men were surrounded by TMC supporters who are claiming that BJP candidate broke an EVM. The police came to the spot and rescued the car after one hour. His car was surrounded by the villagers.

Dr Subhas Sarkar, BJP candidate of Bankura's car attacked. pic.twitter.com/QcIF4fYeQK
— DNA (@dna) May 12, 2019

05:18 PM

Lok Sabha election 2019 phase 6 voter-turnout 5pm — Total: 53.45%

Bihar: 48.85%
Haryana: 56.42%
Madhya Pradesh: 55.83%
Uttar Pradesh: 45.89%
West Bengal: 71.76%
Jharkhand: 58.32%
NCT of Delhi: 46.03%

04:21 PM

Voter turnout recorded 50.74% till 4 pm

03:37 PM

More than 65 Representatives from 20 Election Management Bodies across the World witness Lok Sabha Elections as part of Election Commission's Election Visitors' Programme

Some glimpses pic.twitter.com/22sSBaSjsc
— Sheyphali Sharan (@SpokespersonECI) May 12, 2019

03:14 PM

BJP demands action against officers who stopped its Ghatal (Bengal) candidate Bharati Ghosh. "Have demanded that outsiders be not allowed in LS constituencies, 48 hours before the elections, & that history-sheeters be arrested. Our candidate Bharati Ghosh's car was stopped, have demanded action against the officers involved," MA Naqvi, BJP, said after meeting West Bengal CEO.

03:27 PM

Voter turnout of 50.25% recorded till 3 pm

03:13 PM

EC orders police to register FIR against BJP candidate from Ghatal, Bharati Ghosh for entering the polling station with her security guards

02:24 PM

39.74% voting overall so far till 2 PM.

Highest is in West Bengal (55.77%), followed by Jharkhand (47.16%), MP (42.27%). Least voting is being recorded from 7 constituencies of Delhi recording only 33.65%. Neighbouring Uttar Pradesh is also recording modest vote percentage of 34.30%.

01:27 PM

Voter turnout of 40.43% up to 1 pm in Madhya Pradesh

01:27 PM

Voter turnout of 33.96% up to 1 pm in Uttar Pradesh

01:27 PM

Voter turnout of 50.59% up to 1 pm in West Bengal

01:23 PM

Voter turnout of 26.12% up to 1 pm in Delhi

12:54 PM

Voter turnout of 36.19% till 1 pm

12:54 PM

Australia's Envoy to India, Harinder Sidhu: It's been a really inspiring experience. How can you get so many people to voting? Answer is well-organised EC & its officials. It's a good system & organised

Australia's Envoy to India, Harinder Sidhu: It's been a really inspiring experience. How can you get so many people to voting? Answer is well-organised EC & its officials. It's a good system & organised. #LokSabhaElections2019 pic.twitter.com/Tuxsw7jBUR
— ANI (@ANI) May 12, 2019

12:54 PM

Australia's Envoy to India, Harinder Sidhu: I'm really impressed with EVMs, we don't have those in Australia. I think even with paper ballots which we have in Australia, it's always a case where there's a risk to integrity in any system. VVPAT is actually a good development.

12:40 PM

19.55% voter turnout recorded in Delhi till 12 pm

12:35 PM

25.13% voter turnout recorded till 12 pm

12:24 PM

West Bengal: A vehicle part of the convoy of BJP candidate from Midnapore, Dilip Ghosh, vandalised

12:01 PM

PM Modi in Kushinagar: Wo bomb-bandook lekar samne khada hai, kya wahan mera jawan Election Commission ki permission lene jaye ki main isko goli maroon ya na maroon? Acha Kashmir main jab se hum aaye hain har doosre-teesre din safai hoti rehti hai, ye safai abhiyaan mera kaam hai bhai

11:59 AM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kushinagar: Aaj subah pata chala ki Kashmir mein kuch aatankwadiyon ko hamari sena ne maar giraya. Ab kuch logon ki ye pareshani hai ki aaj jab matdaan chal raha hai tab Modi ne aatankwadiyon ko kyun mara?

11:58 AM

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Robert Vadra leave after casting their vote at a polling booth in Sardar Patel Vidyalaya at Lodhi Estate

Delhi: Earlier visuals of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Robert Vadra casting their vote at a polling booth in Sardar Patel Vidyalaya at Lodhi Estate #LokSabhaElections2019 pic.twitter.com/BNssOoIAQq
— ANI (@ANI) May 12, 2019

Delhi: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Robert Vadra leave after casting their vote at a polling booth in Sardar Patel Vidyalaya at Lodhi Estate #LokSabhaElections2019 pic.twitter.com/FDL6hHXtsq
— ANI (@ANI) May 12, 2019

11:28 AM

UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi arrives to cast her vote at a polling booth in Nirman Bhavan

Delhi: UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi arrives to cast her vote at a polling booth in Nirman Bhavan. #Phase6 #LokSabhaElection2019 pic.twitter.com/1le3Vthj4n
— ANI (@ANI) May 12, 2019

11:17 AM

UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi arrives to cast her vote at a polling booth in Nirman Bhavan

Delhi: UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi arrives to cast her vote at a polling booth in Nirman Bhavan. #Phase6 #LokSabhaElection2019 pic.twitter.com/1le3Vthj4n
— ANI (@ANI) May 12, 2019

11:16 AM

Delhi's oldest voter, 111-year old Bachan Singh after casting his vote at a polling booth in Sant Garh

Delhi's oldest voter, 111-year old Bachan Singh after casting his vote at a polling booth in Sant Garh. #Phase6 #LokSabhaElections2019 pic.twitter.com/RP6MIAsk5B
— ANI (@ANI) May 12, 2019

11:13 AM

Azamgarh: Samajwadi Party leader Ramasre Vishwakarma accuses BJP of booth capturing. Talking to Zee News, he alleges that the administration is working under pressure. He alleged that voting is being conducted slow in polling booths where the number of Yadav, Dalit and Muslim voters is high.

UP Minister Dara Singh Chauhan denied the allegation and said the polling is going on peacefully and the BJP will win Azamgarh seat.

10:48 AM

West Bengal: Clash between BJP candidate Bharti Ghosh's supporters and TMC workers in Ghatal Lok Sabha constituency, one TMC worker injured as her security guards open fire

10:47 AM

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj after casting her vote at a polling booth in NP Senior Secondary School in Aurangzeb Lane.

Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj after casting her vote at a polling booth in NP Senior Secondary School in Aurangzeb Lane. #LokSabhaElections2019 #Phase6 pic.twitter.com/OwqUzkY7Lt
— ANI (@ANI) May 12, 2019

10:47 AM

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal casts his vote at a polling booth in Civil Lines

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal casts his vote at a polling booth in Civil Lines. #LokSabhaElections2019 #Phase6 pic.twitter.com/AtVTdUMItm
— ANI (@ANI) May 12, 2019

10:40 AM

Controversy in Kaboolpur polling station in UP's Machhlishahr Lok Sabha constituency. Muslim women return home after waiting for nearly 3 hours as polling could not be started. Polling Booth No. 203 has nearly 1,000 voters, nearly 90% of which are Muslim. They allege that they are being deliberately stopped from voting. They ask why they have not yet fixed the glitch in EVMs.

10:27 AM

Confident love will win, says Rahul Gandhi after casting his vote

Congress President Rahul Gandhi after casting his vote: The election was fought on key issues including demonetization, farmer problems, Gabbar Singh Tax and corruption in #Rafale. Narendra Modi used hatred in the campaign and we used love and I am confident love will win pic.twitter.com/gE1BgvQzPc
— ANI (@ANI) May 12, 2019

10:21 AM

Voter turnout up to 10 am in 59 Lok Sabha constituencies is 10.82%, highest in West Bengal with 17.08%

10:15 AM

Woman rides bike from Noida, UP to Dhanbad, Jharkhand (Nearly 1200 kms), to cast her vote in Lok Sabha election phase 6

Woman rides bike from Noida to Dhanbad to cast her vote in #LokSabhaElections2019 #Phase6 pic.twitter.com/4d5HPFas8X
— DNA (@dna) May 12, 2019

10:14 AM

Congress President Rahul Gandhi arrives to cast his vote at a polling booth in NP Senior Secondary School on Aurangzeb Lane

Delhi: Congress President Rahul Gandhi arrives to cast his vote at a polling booth in NP Senior Secondary School in Aurangzeb Lane. pic.twitter.com/KH6ngS7GqF
— ANI (@ANI) May 12, 2019

10:00 AM

AAP Candidate from East Delhi, Atishi after casting her vote at a polling booth in Kamla Nehru Govt Sarvodaya Vidyalaya in Jangpura

AAP Candidate from East Delhi, Atishi after casting her vote at a polling booth in Kamla Nehru Govt Sarvodaya Vidyalaya in Jangpura. She is up against BJP's Gautam Gambhir and Congress's Arvinder Singh Lovely pic.twitter.com/eMJD9NmCqH
— ANI (@ANI) May 12, 2019

10:00 AM

Delhi BJP Chief & party's candidate from North-East Delhi Manoj Tiwari casts his vote at polling booth number 60 in Yamuna Vihar. He is up against Congress's Sheila Dikshit and AAP's Dilip Pandey.

Delhi BJP Chief & party's candidate from North-East Delhi Manoj Tiwari casts his vote at polling booth number 60 in Yamuna Vihar. He is up against Congress's Sheila Dikshit and AAP's Dilip Pandey. #LokSabhaElections2019 #Phase6 pic.twitter.com/4NWJ8ZO24e
— ANI (@ANI) May 12, 2019

09:41 AM

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar casts his vote at a polling booth in Karnal

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar casts his vote at a polling booth in Karnal. #LokSabhaElections2019 pic.twitter.com/dd0wqIGb6b
— ANI (@ANI) May 12, 2019

09:41 AM

Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia after casting his vote at a polling booth in Pandav Nagar, East Delhi Constituency

Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia after casting his vote at a polling booth in Pandav Nagar, in East Delhi Constituency. #LokSabhaElections2019 #Phase6 pic.twitter.com/DoC4bdNuUz
— ANI (@ANI) May 12, 2019

09:41 AM

Voter turnout of 9.28% in 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in UP till 9 am

09:38 AM

Stones pelted at BJP candidate from Ghatal constituency, Bharti Ghosh, at a polling station in Dogachia. Ghosh’s private security resorted to a lathicharge to disperse agitators. Locals claim that Ghosh came to the polling station to disrupt the polling process. Ghosh’s car vandalised, her security guard suffered injury on the head after a stone hit him.

West Bengal: Vehicles in BJP Candidate from Ghatal, Bharti Ghosh's convoy vandalized. BJP has alleged that TMC workers are behind the attack pic.twitter.com/xdsJNkKhV8
— ANI (@ANI) May 12, 2019

09:38 AM

Voting percentage till 9 am: Bihar-8.49%, Haryana- 2.73, Madhya Pradesh- 3.40, Uttar Pradesh- 6.79, West Bengal- 4.59, Jharkhand- 9.76, Delhi- 3.28

09:05 AM

Visuals from a polling booth in Siddharthnagar

Visuals from polling booth no. 329- 332 at Sidharth Shiksha Niketan in Siddharthnagar. #LokSabhaElections2019 #Phase6 pic.twitter.com/l06SHtrt2g
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) May 12, 2019

09:04 AM

Former Delhi CM and Congress' candidate from North-East Delhi, Sheila Dikshit casts her vote

Delhi: Former Delhi CM and Congress's candidate from North-East Delhi, Sheila Dikshit after casting her vote at a polling booth in Nizamuddin (East). #Phase6 #LokSabhaElections2019 pic.twitter.com/Gog0f9uHB6
— ANI (@ANI) May 12, 2019

09:03 AM

Voting underway in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh

Visuals from a polling booth in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. #Phase6 #LokSabhaElections2019 pic.twitter.com/MmNqo48v9W
— ANI (@ANI) May 12, 2019

08:48 AM

East Midnapore’s CMP candidate Paritosh Pattanaik’s house ransacked and vandalised by miscreants

07:45 AM

Indian captain Virat Kohli has voted in Gurugram

07:39 AM

Bhopal BJP candidate Sadhvi Pragya has voted

Madhya Pradesh: BJP Bhopal candidate Pragya Singh Thakur after casting her vote. Digvijaya Singh is the Congress candidate from the constituency. #LokSabhaElections2019 pic.twitter.com/d0Rc2RgwKO
— ANI (@ANI) May 12, 2019

07:40 AM

Multiple reports of unrest already reported from West Bengal. A TMC worker has been found dead in Kanthi. BJP Block President found dead under mysterious situation in Jhargram. Two BJP workers shot in East Medinipur. Clashes have been reported from early morning. Looks like this phase will follow the same trend as the last five phases in Bengal.

07:19 AM

What's at stake:

Phase 6 is seen as a big test for the BJP which had won 45 of these seats in 2014. In Uttar Pradesh, it had won in 13 of the 14 constituencies in 2014, the only exception being Azamgarh, won by SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav. However, the BJP lost in the bypolls in Phulpur and Gorakhpur, home turf of Yogi Adityanath, last year.

In Madhya Pradesh, all eyes are on Bhopal, where senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh is pitted against BJP nominee Pragya Singh Thakur. Guna constituency will lock the fate of Congress general secretary Jyotiraditya Scindia.

In the national capital, it is expected to be a three-cornered fight involving the BJP, AAP and the Congress. Prominent candidates in the fray include veteran Congress leader Sheila Dikshit, Olympian boxer Vijender Singh, Union minister Harsh Vardhan, Atishi from AAP and her BJP rival cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir.

Union ministers Rao Inderjit Singh and Krishan Pal Gurjar are among the 223 candidates in fray in Haryana. Former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, a four-term MP from Rohtak, is trying his luck to enter the Lower House from Sonipat.

The ruling Trinamool Congress, the BJP, the Congress and the Left Front constituents – the CPI(M), the CPI and the AIFB – are the main contenders in West Bengal. In this phase, polling will be held in Jangal Mahal – the forested region of Bankura, West Midnapore, Jhargram and Purulia districts, which used to be a Maoist hotbed, during the erstwhile Left Front government.

In Jharkhand, state minister Chandraprakash Choudhary, former cricketer Kirti Azad and ex-chief minister Madhu Koda's wife Gita are among the prominent faces.