In the grand battle of the Lok Sabha elections, today marked the conclusion of the sixth phase of voting across 58 constituencies spanning seven states and one Union Territory. The places that saw citizens casting their votes included Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Haryana, and Delhi. Precisely, by 7:45 PM, 59.06% of the votes had been recorded, according to the Election Commission's data.
In a detailed breakdown, Bihar witnesed a 53.30% turnout across eight Lok Sabha seats. Uttar Pradesh reported 54.03% for fourteen seats, and Jammu saw 52.28% participation in a solitary Lok Sabha seat. Remarkably, West Bengal soared high with a 78.19% turnout across eight seats, while Haryana had a cumulative 58.37% across all ten of its Lok Sabha seats. The nation's capital, Delhi, with all seven seats, recorded a 54.48% turnout. Jharkhand's four seats revealed a 62.74% turnout, while Odisha’s six seats registered 60.07% participation. These figures represent the situation as of the evening at 7:45 PM.
Source: aajtak
Battle of Titans in Delhi
The capital city witnessed a direct fight between BJP and the India Block across all seven seats. This electoral battle also involved the Congress and AAP alliance, marking the first time AAP and Congress have jointly fielded candidates against BJP. While AAP contested four seats, Congress placed its bets on the remaining three. BJP, which dominated all seven seats in the 2019 elections, showed faith in new faces this year by replacing six of its incumbent MPS.
Source: aajtak
The Fierce Electoral Duel in Haryana
In Haryana, Saturday's polling covered all ten Lok Sabha seats, including Ambala, Kurukshetra, Hisar, Karnal, Sirsa, Sonipat, Rohtak, Bhiwani-Mahendragarh, Gurgaon, and Faridabad. The BJP fielded former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar from Karnal against Congress’s Divyanshu Buddhiraja.
In a strategic move, Congress put forth three-time MP Rao Inderjit Singh from Gurgaon against Raj Babbar, aiming to pierce through the BJP stronghold. Rohtak's Lok Sabha seat saw a faceoff between Congress’s Deepender Singh Hooda and BJP's Arvind Kumar Sharma.
The BJP nominated Naveen Jindal from Kurukshetra, setting up a contest with AAP’s Sushil Gupta and INLD’s Abhay Singh Chautala amongst others.
Voting Breakdown by State
Bihar 8 Jharkhand 4 Delhi 7 Haryana 10 Odisha 6 Uttar Pradesh 14 Jammu & Kashmir 1 West Bengal 8
The Electorate’s Hotbeds
Uttar Pradesh - Sultanpur, Azamgarh. Jammu & Kashmir - Anantnag, Rajouri Delhi - Northeast Delhi, Chandni Chowk, Northwest Delhi West Bengal - Tamluk, Medinipur Haryana - Karnal, Kurukshetra, Gurgaon, Rohtak Odisha - Bhubaneswar, Puri, Sambalpur
Notable Candidates in the Fray
Sambit Patra Dharmendra Pradhan Naveen Jindal Manoj Tiwari Kanhaiya Kumar Somnath Bharti Menaka Gandhi Manohar Lal Khattar Mehbooba Mufti Former Justice Abhijit Ganguly
