Curtains come down on Lok Sabha polls with over 59 per cent turnout in final phase

New Delhi, June 1 (IANS) Over 59 per cent turnout was recorded in the 57 seats across 8 states/UT that went to polls in the seventh and last phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Saturday, the Election Commission said. 

"Polling in the seventh phase of General Elections 2024 which commenced across 57 PCs recorded an approximate voter turnout of 59.45 per cent, as of 8.45 p.m.," the poll panel said in a statement.

"The approximate voter turnout figures of 59.45 per cent, as of 8.45 p.m., will continue to be updated State/PC/AC wise on the Voter Turnout App of ECI. This will also give aggregate phase wise figures in addition to the State/PC/AC wise figures," it said, adding that it will issue another press note with voter turnout figures at around 11.45 p.m.

As per the EC, the maximum turnout was recorded in West Bengal (9 seats) at 69.89 per cent and the lowest in Bihar (50.79 per cent)

Jharkhand (3 seats) reported 69.59 per cent, Odisha (6 seats) 63.57 per cent, Himachal Pradesh (4 seats) logged 67.53 per cent, the UT of Chandigarh 62.80 per cent voting in its sole seat, Punjab (13 seats) 55.86 per cent, and UP (13 seats) 55.6 per cent.

There were 908 candidates in the fray, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Varanasi) heading the list of prominent candidates.

Other top BJP candidates included Union Ministers Anurag Thakur in Himachal Pradesh's Hamirpur and Pratap Sarangi from Odisha's Balasore, former Union Ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad from Patna Sahib and Preneet Kaur from Patiala, actress Kangana Ranaut in Himachal Pradesh's Mandi, and ex-IFS officer and former envoy to US Taranjit Singh Sandhu (Amritsar).

Congress candidates included former Union Ministers Manish Tewari in Chandigarh and Anand Sharma from Himachal's Kangra, former Himachal CM Virbhadra Singh's son Vikramaditya Singh in Mandi, Ajay Rai in Varanasi, former Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi from Jalandhar, and state unit chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring from Ludhiana.

Other significant candidates were West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee, seeking to retain his Diamond Harbour seat, SAD leader and former Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal from Bathinda, Samajwadi Party's Kajal Nishad from Gorakhpur, where the Bhojpuri actress took on industry star and sitting BJP MP Ravi Kishan, CPI-M's Sujan Chakraborty against sitting Trinamool MP Sougata Roy in Dum Dum, and Saira Shah Halim against sitting Trinamool MP Mala Roy in Kolkata Dakshin.

In Odisha, 42 Assembly constituencies went to polls simultaneously with the Parliamentary Constituencies, while bypolls to 6 Assembly constituencies - whose outcome will determine the fate of the state's Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led Congress government - were also held.

"The Election Commission of India extended its deepest and most profound gratitude to voters, all the stakeholders including polling personnel, law enforcement agencies, security and paramilitary forces, volunteers, Indian Railways and Indian Air Force, amongst many who made this mammoth exercise a grand success."

"Stringent security measures were in place creating a conducive environment for voters to cast their vote without fear or intimidation, it said, adding that with meticulous advance planning and rigorous training of election officials, elections this time have seen a drastic reduction in the number of repolls demonstrating the robustness of the election process," the EC said in its statement.

Counting of votes for the Lok Sabha election is slated for June 4, along with counting for the Andhra Pradesh and Odisha Assemblies. Vote counting for Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim Assembly polls is slated for Sunday.

--IANS

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