Over 10.01-crore voters are expected to cast their votes in about 1.12-lakh polling stations as 59 constituencies are set to go to polls in the seventh and the final phase of polling for the Lok Sabha elections on Sunday.
As voting for the last phase of Lok Sabha polls concludes today, unlike in 2014, there is so much uncertainty this time over who will form the next government and who will be the next prime minister.
Twenty years ago, on April 17, 1999, to be precise, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee lost the confidence motion in the Lok Sabha by just one vote, Sharad Pawar was Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
Ajay Bose, a political analyst and author of BSP chief Mayawati’s biography, has a keen eye on Indian politics.
Polling began Sunday morning for 59 Lok Sabha seats in the seventh and last phase of Lok Sabha polls to decide the fate of 918 candidates including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is seeking to retain the Varanasi seat in Uttar Pradesh.
Read more
Today is the final phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. I urge all those voting in this phase to vote in record numbers. Your one vote will shape India’s development trajectory in the years to come. I also hope first time voters vote enthusiastically.
— Chowkidar Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 19, 2019
'Election campaign for last phase of polling for Lok Sabha polls is over, surprisingly Narendra Modi's Kedarnath Yatra is being widely covered by the media for the last 2 days. This is a gross violation of model code of conduct,' Trinamool Congress to EC.
Questioning the long drawn polling in intense heat conditions, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday suggested that Lok Sabha elections should be held in two or three phases.
Read more
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday thanked the Election Commission for granting him permission to visit the Kedarnath shrine at a time when the model code of conduct is in force.
Read more
“Women TMC workers with covered faces are casting proxy votes, it is difficult to establish their identity. When we raised objection to it, they created a ruckus at the polling station,” alleged BJP MP candidate Anupam Hazra inJadavpur.
Amid reports of EVM glitches, an average 10-14 per cent polling was recorded in the first two hours of voting on Sunday in 59 seats in the seventh and last phase of Lok Sabha elections to decide the fate of 918 candidates including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Read more
Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday hailed women for playing a key role in the general elections and said the voices of"mothers and sisters"must be heard.
His remarks came as polling began for the final phase of the polls in 59 seats to decide the fate of 918 candidates including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is seeking to retain the Varanasi seat in Uttar Pradesh.
"Today is the 7th and last phase of polling. Our mothers and sisters have played a key role in these elections, not just as candidates, but also as committed voters whose voices must be heard. I salute them all," Gandhi said.
Earlier,Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala tweeted:"Do vote in the last phase of the general elections to make the country liberal and progressive."
"One vote, will make the future of the youth empowered. One vote, will take the farmers towards loan waiver. One vote, will take small traders towards profit. One vote, will get the deprived 'Nyay' (justice)," he said.
The Trinamool Congress Sunday wrote to the Election Commission complaining that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the media at Kedarnath shrine was "unethical" and that the coverage of his visit was in "gross violation" of the Model Code of Conduct.
Read more
Voters boycotted polling at six booths in Madhya Pradesh on Sunday over some local issues, a senior election official said.
Read more
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP leader N Chandrababu Naidu Sunday held the second round of talks with top opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Sharad Pawar, in an apparent bid to rally support for a non-BJP government at the Centre.
Read more
Exit poll trends will set the tone for the equity markets in the initial part of the week, while the final outcome of the general elections on May 23 would build the road ahead for stocks, analysts said.
Read more
The world's highest polling station at 15,256 feet, Tashiganag village in Himachal Pradesh on Sunday took little more than two hours to climb up to 53 per cent voting, a state electoral officer said.
There are total 49 registered voters in Tashigang polling station in tribal Lahaul and Spiti district, State's Assistant Chief Electoral Officer Harbans Lal Dhiman said.
The polling began at 7 am when the temperature was below freezing point. Voters came to the polling station wearing their traditional attire to beat the chilly weather.
It recorded voter turnout of 53 per cent till 9 am, he said.
Dhiman said that nearby Hikkim polling station used to be the world's highest polling booth earlier but it was replaced by Tashigang during the 2017 assembly election due to some technical reasons.
Residents on Ghoramara fear that the votes they cast Sunday in India's election may be the last before their island sinks into the Bay of Bengal -- a victim of climate change's growing toll.
Read more
Notwithstanding his failing vision and aching knees, India's "first" voter Shyam Saran Negi on Sunday reached his polling booth in Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur district to exercise his franchise.
Read more
Residents of an Uttar Pradesh village in Chandauli Lok Sabha constituency, near Varanasi, alleged on Sunday that some people forcefully applied ink on their fingers in a bid to prevent them from voting.
Read more
Political parties have spent over Rs 53 crore on digital platforms like Google and Facebook between February and May, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accounting for a lion's share of the spending.
Read more
The BJP on Sunday urged the Election Commission to order the presence of central armed police forces in West Bengal till the Model Code of Conduct period ends, as it expressed concern that the state's ruling TMC may target a section of voters after polling is over.
Read more
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) alleged that the central forces were "brutally torturing" and "intimidating" voters in West Bengal and acting as per orders of BJP leaders.
Read more
Some of the restaurants in Patna have decided to offer discounts to those customers who have voted in the last phase of the general election.
Read more
The simmering tension between Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and his cabinet colleague Navjot Singh Sidhu was out in the open again with the former accusing the cricketer-turned-politician of damaging the Congress with his "irresponsible actions" just before polls.
Read more
Hours before the seventh and last phase of election was over, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar asked the BJP to expel leaders like Pragya Thakur for making "highly objectionable remarks" against Mahatma Gandhi.
Read more