Lok Sabha elections phase 7 highlights: Over 58 pc voting till 5 pm, INDIA bloc leaders meet in Delhi

A voter turnout of 58.34 per cent was recorded till 5.00 pm in the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha elections across 57 parliamentary constituencies in eight states and Union Territories today.

In 2019, the parties which now form the Opposition INDIA bloc won 19 of the 57 seats, with a vote share of 37.52 per cent. The BJP-led NDA coalition won 30, with 39.03 per cent of the votes. The BJP alone won 25 seats, with Trinamool Congress and Congress winning nine and eight respectively.

The voter turnout for the previous six phases, as per data released by the Election Commission of India, stands at 66.14 per cent for phase 1, 66.71 per cent for phase 2, 65.68 per cent for phase 3, 69.16 per cent for phase 4, 62.20 per cent for phase 5 and 63.37 per cent for phase 6.

Senior INDIA bloc leaders met at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence today to discuss the alliance’s strategy for counting of votes, which is scheduled for 4 June. Among those who attended the meeting are Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav, Anil Desai, Sitaram Yechury, Arvind Kejriwal, Bhagwat Mann, Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chadha, Champai Soren, Kalpana Soren, T.R. Baalu, Farooq Abdullah, D. Raja and Mukesh Sahani.

Photos: Vipin/ NH

Jharkhand – 60.14 per cent

West Bengal – 58.46 per cent

Himachal Pradesh – 58.41 per cent

Chandigarh (UT) – 52.61 per cent

Odisha – 49.77 per cent

Uttar Pradesh – 46.83 per cent

Punjab – 46.38 per cent

Bihar – 42.95 per cent

Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav said the INDIA bloc, of which his party was a part, would form the next government at the Centre and that the ruling BJP-led NDA was on its way out.

The former Bihar deputy chief minister, who spearheaded the Lok Sabha polls campaign of the opposition bloc in the state, spoke to media in Patna after casting his vote. "The INDIA coalition will form the government after results are out on 4 June. The NDA will be voted out", claimed the 34-year-old leader, whose exertions have left him with an injured spine, causing him to move around in a wheelchair.

Ninety-two-year-old Khalil Ansari, who is visually impaired, cast his vote for the first time today during the Lok Sabha elections in Jharkhand's Sahibganj district, an official said. Ansari, from Badkhori village in Rajmahal parliamentary constituency, voted at booth number 10 of the Upgraded Government Middle School in Mandro, the official added.

Ansari's name was initially missing from the electoral rolls, a fact discovered by Jharkhand chief electoral officer (CEO) K. Ravi Kumar during an inspection of Mandro polling stations on 5 April. When Kumar asked Ansari if he was a registered voter, the 92-year-old replied that he had never voted because his name was not on the voters' list. Kumar then directed officials to immediately add Ansari's name to the list. After casting his vote, Ansari said, "I cast my vote for the first time and I am happy."

Surinder Kamboj, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate for Ferozepur Lok Sabha seat in Punjab, has been booked for allegedly getting his video recorded while casting his vote and making it public, officials said.

Kamboj was filmed by an unidentified person while casting his vote at a polling station in Guruharsahai’s Jiva Rai village.

Ferozepur deputy commissioner Rajesh Dhiman said Kamboj made the video public. A case has been registered against him and the unidentified person under relevant sections of the Representation of People’s Act 1951 and the IPC.

Though the Election Commission has claimed that voting has been peaceful in West Bengal so far, it said it has received 1,450 complaints until 11 am from different political parties alleging EVM malfunctions and agents being stopped from entering booths.

Around 28.10 per cent of over 1.63 crore voters exercised their franchise in the first two hours of polling to the nine Lok Sabha seats, an Election Commission of India official said.

Sita Soren, the BJP candidate from Jharkhand's Dumka Lok Sabha seat, has alleged irregularities in the voting process and demanded re-polling in the constituency. Sita, the sister-in-law of jailed former chief minister Hemant Soren, claimed that the voting process was being intentionally delayed.

"I have visited several booths in Dumka urban and found irregularities. I have informed the deputy commissioner in this regard. Inexperienced booth level officers (BLOs) have been deployed due to which electors are facing trouble," Sita said. "The delay is being done deliberately. I will write to Election Commission to cancel the voting here and conduct a re-poll."

Sita, a three-time JMM MLA, joined the BJP on March 20, citing "isolation" and "neglect" by the JMM since the death of her husband, Durga Soren, in 2009.

Chief electoral officer (CEO) K. Ravi Kumar denied her allegations and said polling is underway smoothly across three Lok Sabha constituencies — Dumka, Rajmahal and Godda.

Six assembly constituencies fall under Dumka Lok Sabha seat. Of the six assembly segments, Jama recorded 30.12 per cent polling, Dumka 28.02 per cent, Jamtara 26.41 per cent, Nala 30.62 per cent, Sarath 30.31 per cent and Sikaripara 30.71 per cent polling till 11 am.

The INDIA bloc has fielded Nalin Soren, a seven-term JMM MLA from Sikaripara Assembly segment, against Sita.

Himachal Pradesh – 31.92 per cent

Jharkhand – 29.55 per cent

West Bengal – 28.1 per cent

Uttar Pradesh – 28.02 per cent

Chandigarh (UT) – 25.03 per cent

Bihar – 24.25 per cent

Punjab – 23.91 per cent

Odisha – 22.64 per cent

To maintain law and order, the Election Commission has decided to retain 400 companies of Central forces in West Bengal till 6 June, a senior official said on Friday. "After the 1 June polling, half of the central forces will leave the state and 400 companies will remain until June 6. Battalions of the BSF, CRPF, and SSB will be retained," he told PTI.

On Friday night, Kolkata Police seized over Rs 10 lakh from four bikers during checking near Howrah Bridge. They were detained, police added.

Elsewhere, clashes were reported in the Satuliya area of Bhangar, part of the Jadavpur constituency in Kolkata, between Indian Secular Front (ISF) and CPI(M) supporters. The clashes reportedly led to several injuries among ISF members, some of them from country-made bombs.

In Kultali of South 24 Parganas district, an angry mob barged into polling stations, seizing an electronic voting machine (EVM) and throwing it in a nearby pond. The incident occurred after some polling agents were allegedly barred from entering the booths, prompting local residents to retaliate by seizing the EVM equipped with voter verified paper audit trail (VVPAT). However, the CEO West Bengal clarified in an X post that the EVM was not in use and had been kept in reserve.

“Today morning at 6.40 am Reserve EVMs & papers of Sector Officer near Benimadhavpur FP school, at 129-Kultali AC of 19-Jaynagar (SC) PC has been looted by local mob and 1 CU, 1 BU , 2VVPAT machines have been thrown inside a pond," the post said.

"Sector Police was a little behind. FIR has been lodged by Sector Officer and necessary action has been initiated. Poll process in all six booths under the Sector is running uninterrupted. Fresh EVM and papers have been provided to the Sector Officer.”

Uttar Pradesh recorded a polling percentage of 12.94 till 9.00 am as voting. Polling is being held in 13 constituencies of the state, including Varanasi, from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a third consecutive term in the Lok Sabha.

At the start of the 18th Lok Sabha elections in mid-April, UP was considered a 'safe' zone for the BJP, which won 62 of the state's 80 Lok Sabha seats in 2019. The picture, however, is not as rosy now. Read more in our special report.

In Varanasi, UP Congress chief Ajay Rai, who is contesting against PM Modi, has said the administration is trying to influence the voting by putting INDIA bloc leaders/workers under house arrest. In a post in Hindi on X, he wrote, "Right now, Congress councillor and party leader Gulshan Ali ji has been put under house arrest. When I asked why this has happened, I did not get any proper answer."

'This festival of democracy will be considered successful only when the democratic powers defeat the dictatorial powers,' the Congress leader said.

'Today, when you press the EVM button for 57 seats in 8 states and Union territories, think about the Preamble of the Constitution - 'We the people of India,'' he said in a social media post in Hindi, on X.

Kharge also urged people to think about the future of farmers, youth, workers, women and Dalit, tribal and OBC communities: 'Will you push them into the swamp of injustice, oppression and inequality for another five years or will you create a brighter, better and just future for them?' he asked.

Kharge also welcomed first-time voters, saying youngsters who are going to vote for the first time have a big responsibility on their shoulders.

'The battle is now in its final phase. The public has stood firmly with us in every phase. After six phases, people want to see us win,' Kharge said.

According to the Election Commission's (EC) guidelines, television channels and news outlets will be able to run exit poll data and its results after 6:30 pm.

The poll panel has called upon voters to turn out in greater numbers and vote with responsibility and pride.

The turnout in the first six phases of the general election has been 66.14 per cent, 66.71 per cent, 65.68 per cent, 69.16 per cent, 62.2 per cent and 63.36 per cent respectively.

More than 10.06 crore citizens, including nearly 5.24 crore men, 4.82 crore women and 3,574 third-gender electors, are eligible to vote in this phase.

This marks the end of the marathon polling process that began on 19 April.

The assemblies of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim also went to polls, while the Odisha assembly completes polling today as well.

The counting of votes for the Lok Sabha seats will be taken up on 4 June.

In Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, the counting for the assembly polls will be held on 2 June.

Thirteen poll personnel deployed in Uttar Pradesh's Mirzapur district died, following high fever and high blood pressure amid heatwave conditions in the region. Twenty-three others have been admitted to a hospital in Mirzapur.

Three more people on election duty died and eight were taken ill with suspected heatstroke in Sonbhadra district, a senior official said on Friday, 31 May.

Of those who died in Mirzapur, seven were home guard jawans, three sanitation workers, one clerk posted at the chief medical officer's office, one chakbandi adhikaari (consolidation officer) and one peon in the home guard team. All were on poll duty.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, contesting from Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh), and popular entertainer Kangana Ranaut, contesting from Mandi (Himachal Pradesh), are among those who got the benefit of the longest time in the limelight for their election campaigns. Both represent the BJP, of course.

Other 'stars' in the final round include:

• Misa Bharti from Pataliputra (Bihar), daughter of Lalu Prasad Yadav, on behalf of the RJD;

• Union minister Anurag Thakur from Hamirpur (Himachal);

• Harsimrat Kaur Badal of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) from Bathinda (Punjab);

• Manish Tewari for the INDIA bloc for Chandigarh's sole seat in Parliament;

• And the Trinamool Congress' Abhishek Banerjee, nephew to party matriarch and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, for Diamond Harbour (West Bengal).

Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Chandigarh are the states and union territories going to the polls today.

All the constituencies are voting in Punjab (13 seats), Himachal (4) and Chandigarh (1), while for Bihar (8), Uttar Pradesh (13), Jharkhand (3), West Bengal (9) and Odisha (6), this makes up the final round of elections.

Odisha is also completing its state assembly polls today