Lok Sabha Elections 2024: At least 61% turnout in Phase 6 amid heatwave & incidents of sporadic violence in Bengal

New Delhi: At least 61 per cent of 8.95 crore voters exercised their franchise on Monday during the phase 6 of Lok Sabha elections, amid heatwave and sporadic incidents of violence in West Bengal.

In this phase where 58 seats in eight states and union territories went to polls, President Droupadi Murmu, former Congress presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Union Ministers S Jaishankar and Hardeep Singh Puri and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal cast their votes in the national capital.

All ten seats in Haryana and seven in Delhi as well as 14 in Uttar Pradesh, eight seats each in Bihar and West Bengal, six seats in Odisha, four seats in Jharkhand and one seat in Jammu and Kashmir went to polls where 889 candidates were trying their luck. Along with this, polling to 42 Assembly seats in Odisha were also held simultaneously.

With this phase, the polling process in 28 states and union territories and 486 seats have been completed. The last and seventh phase — 57 seats in eight states and one union territory — will be held on June 1 and the counting of votes will be held on June 4.

According to the Election Commission, 61.20 per cent people voted as of 11.45 pm even as poll officials were updating the final data. The Voter TurnOut App showed the turnout at 61.46 per cent at 12 midnight with West Bengal recording the highest 79.78 per cent. In 2019, phase 6 saw 64.4 per cent turnout.

The least turnout was recorded in UP at 54.03 per cent while the lone seat of Jammu and Kashmir — Anantnag-Rajouri — that went to polls in this phase recorded 54.46 per cent. However, Anantnag-Rajouri created a record as it marked the highest turnout in 35 years — against 8.98 per cent in 2019 and 5.07 per cent in 1989. In 1984, Anantnag had recorded 70.08 per cent turnout.

The turnout recorded in Bihar was 55.24 per cent, Delhi 57.82 per cent, Haryana 61.16 per cent, Odisha 70.23 per cent and Jharkhand 63.76 per cent.

The New Delhi seat witnessed the lowest polling in the national capital with 53.86 per cent while the highest of 62.87 per cent was in North-East Delhi where Congress' Kanhaiya Kumar is taking on sitting BJP MP Manoj Tiwari. Except for North-East Delhi, not a single seat crossed the 60 per cent mark. In 2019, the whole of Delhi recorded 60.6 per cent turnout.

In Haryana's Gurgaon, the turnout was a dismal 58 per cent while in Faridabad it was 58.28 per cent. In Karnal where former Haryana Chief Minister ML Khattar is contesting, 60.69 per cent people turned up to vote.

In Jammu and Kashmir, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, a candidate in Anantnag-Rajouri seat, staged a sit-in outside Bijbehara police station alleging detention of her party workers and polling agents while police claimed the detained people were overground workers (OGWs).

CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat alleged in Delhi she had to wait for almost an hour to cast her vote as the battery of the EVM control unit at her polling booth "drained out". The District Election Officer later said the battery was replaced within 15 minutes.

"With six phases of the elections now concluded, voting for 486 seats is over. As the outgoing PM starts figuring out his retirement plans, here’s the round-up of the campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections: The BJP's fate is all but sealed. It has become clear that they are South mein Saaf, aur North, West, and East mein Half," Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh said on X.

"With six phases of the elections now concluded, voting for 486 seats is over. As the outgoing PM starts figuring out his retirement plans, here’s the round-up of the campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections: The BJP's fate is all but sealed. It has become clear that they are South mein Saaf, aur North, West, and East mein Half," Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh said on X.

A quick glance at numbers in Phase 6

Seats: 58

Candidates: 889

Polling % at 12 midnight : 61.46%

States (Seats) - %

Bihar (8): 55.24

Haryana (10): 61.16

Jammu and Kashmir (1): 54.46

Jharkhand (4): 63.76

Delhi (7): 57.82

Odisha (6): 70.23

UP (14): 54.03

West Bengal (8): 79.78

Prominent Seats: 2024(%) / 2019 (%)

Gurugram: 58 / 67.33

Faridabad: 58.28 / 64.10

Ranchi: 61.93 / 64.49

New Delhi: 53.86 / 56.91

Bhubaneswar: 62 / 59.17

Source: Voter Turnout App