Polling began on Sunday morning for 59 Lok Sabha seats in the sixth and penultimate phase of Lok Sabha polls with Union ministers Radha Mohan Singh, Harsh Vardhan and Maneka Gandhi, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and Congress leaders Digvijay Singh and Jyotiraditya Scindia among several prominent faces in the fray.
Elections are being held in 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, 10 seats in Haryana, eights constituencies each in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, seven seats in Delhi and four in Jharkhand.
Over 10.17 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 979 candidates. The Election Commission has set up over 1.13 lakh polling stations for smooth conduct of the polls.
The elections in this phase are seen as a big test for the BJP which had won 45 of these seats in 2014, with the Trinamool Congress bagging 8, the Congress two and the Samajwadi Party and the LJP one seat each among others.
Prominent candidates in the fray in Delhi 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.
The Bhopal seat in Madhya Pradesh is witnessing an interesting contest between senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh and BJP nominee Pragya Singh Thakur.
Guna will seal the fate of Congress general secretary Scindia. Union minister and BJP nominee Narendra Singh Tomar is in the fray from Morena.
In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP is up against the SP-BSP-RLD coalition and the Congress. The BJP had won 13 of the 14 constituencies in 2014, the only exception being Azamgarh, won then by SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav.
However, the BJP had to face defeat in the bypolls in Phulpur and Gorakhpur constituencies last year. While, the anti-BJP alliance would like to retain its grip over both the seats, the saffron party is looking to wrest them from the opposition.
Their importance can be gauged from the fact that Gorakhpur was represented by Yogi Adityanath in Lok Sabha from 1998 to 2017, before he became the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.
Similarly, Phulpur was won for the first time by the BJP in 2014, when Keshav Prasad Maurya emerged victorious from the seat once represented by Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister. Maurya vacated the seat after he became the deputy chief minister of the state in 2017.
In Azamgarh this time, Akhilesh is trying to retain his father’s seat against Bhojpuri film star Dinesh Lal Yadav ‘Nirahua’ of the BJP.
Sultanpur too is seeing an interesting contest as the BJP has fielded Union minister Maneka Gandhi for the seat won by her son Varun in 2014.
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 is being 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.
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 sitting MLA of Congress from Rohtak district, is once again trying his luck to enter the lower House, this time from Sonipat. Earlier, Hooda had remained a four-time MP from Rohak parliamentary constituency.
Hooda’s son Deepender is seeking re-election for fourth term from Rohtak as Congress nominee.
Among other candidates, Union minister Birender Singh’s son Brijendra Singh (BJP) and former chief minister Bhajan Lal’s grandson Bhavya Bishnoi (Congress), both political greenhorns, are contesting from the Hisar Lok Sabha seat, where they face sitting MP and leader of newly floated JJP Dushyant Chautala, grandson of former chief minister, O P Chautala.
Former Union minister Kumari Selja and state Congress chief Ashok Tanwar are fighting from Ambala and Sirsa, respectively, for the party.
Four sitting MPs, including Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, are among the 127 candidates contesting in Bihar.
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80 per cent polling recorded till 5 pm in 8 LS seats in Bengal
Delhi: Vice President Venkaiah Naidu and his wife Usha after casting their votes at Nirman Bhawan polling booth.
Delhi: Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa and his family after casting their vote at a polling booth in Nirman Bhawan
AAP South Delhi candidate Raghav Chadha: BJP workers are moving around in a polling booth in Sangam Vihar in BJP scarves, a person voted 4 times. We identified 8-10 such ppl and caught one red handed. Ramesh Bidhuri(BJP candidate) is losing badly so is indulging in such tactics.
Delhi: Former President of India, Pranab Mukherjee casts his vote at a polling booth in NP Primary School, K Kamraj Lane.
Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant casts his vote
NITI AAYOG CEO casts his vote at a polling booth in Delhi
Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora with his family after casting vote in Delhi.
West Bengal BJP Chief Dilip Ghosh: At a booth in Rampura (West Medinipur), my people were being threatened since yesterday so I went to meet. TMC goons attacked us, we were stopped from going inside the booth. These people are stopping people from voting.
Congress General Secretary for UP (East), Priyanka Gandhi Vadra after casting her vote in Delhi
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Sunday said it was “very clear” that the BJP will face defeat in Lok Sabha polls as people are “angry and distressed” and will convey their sentiments through voting.
Delhi: Senior CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat after casting his vote at a polling booth in Sanchar Bhawan.
Will our jawans take EC’s permission before opening fire at militants: PM Modi
Referring to a combat operation by the Armed forces where 2 militants were killed in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian, PM Modi said, The news came in the morning that the army killed some terrorists in Kashmir, Some people are upset as to why Modi has killed terrorists today when voting is going on.”
BJP candidate attacked twice in West Bengal, CEO seeks report
BJP candidate Bharati Ghosh was allegedly attacked twice by local people when the former IPS officer tried to visit polling stations in her Ghatal Lok Sabha constituency on Sunday when the sixth phase of polling was underway there.
Delhi: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Robert Vadra leave after casting their vote at a polling booth in Sardar Patel Vidyalaya at Lodhi Estate.
Delhi: Legendary Cricketer Kapil Dev arrives to cast his vote at a polling booth in DPS Mathura Road along with wife Romi and daughter Amiya
Delhi: UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi arrives to cast her vote at a polling booth in Nirman Bhavan.
Congress candidate from Sonipat, Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Congress candidate from Rohtak, Deepender Singh Hooda, after casting their vote at a polling booth in Rohtak, Haryana.
Delhi’s oldest voter, 111-year old Bachan Singh after casting his vote at a polling booth in Sant Garh
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj after casting her vote at a polling booth in NP Senior Secondary School in Aurangzeb Lane.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal casts his vote at a polling booth in Civil Lines.
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.
AAP Candidate from East Delhi, Atishi after casting her vote at a polling booth in Kamla Nehru Govt Sarvodaya Vidyalaya in Jangpura.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar casts his vote at a polling booth in Karnal.
Delhi: President Ramnath Kovind casts his vote at a polling booth in Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia after casting his vote at a polling booth in Pandav Nagar, in East Delhi Constituency.
Minor argument between Union Minister and BJP’s candidate from Sultanpur Maneka Gandhi and Mahagathbandhan candidate Sonu Singh after Gandhi alleged that Singh’s supporters were threatening voters.
Congress candidate from New Delhi Ajay Maken speaking to media after casting his 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).
Uttar Pradesh Minister Sidharth Nath Singh after casting his vote at a polling booth in Prayagraj.
Delhi: People queue up to vote at polling booth number 124 in Civil Lines.
BJP Candidate from East Delhi Gautam Gambhir casts his vote at a polling booth in Old Rajinder Nagar.
Madhya Pradesh: BJP Bhopal candidate Pragya Singh Thakur after casting her vote. Digvijaya Singh is the Congress candidate from the constituency.
Haryana: Team India Captain Virat Kohli after casting his vote at a polling booth in Pinecrest School in Gurugram.
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