Lok Sabha polls: 41.03 per cent voter turnout till 3 pm, WB leads chart

Over 41 per cent of the voters exercised their franchise till 3 pm on Sunday in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha polls in 59 constituencies across seven states with West Bengal on top of the chart.

According to the Election Commission of India, West Bengal witnessed 56.11 per cent voting, while Jharkhand recorded second-highest voter turnout at 47.54 per cent till 3 pm.

The estimated turnout in Madhya Pradesh was 43.95 per cent, 42.36 per cent in Haryana, 35.75 in Bihar, 35.73 in Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi stands at 33.92 per cent polling. The average voter turnout stood at 41.03 per cent.

Several incidents of violence were reported from West Bengal.

Of the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, voting percentage was highest at North West Delhi (36.83 per cent), North East Delhi (35.73 per cent), followed by West Delhi (34.88 per cent), South Delhi (34.35 per cent), East Delhi (33.79 per cent), New Delhi (31.96 per cent), and Chandni Chowk (31.74 per cent).

In Delhi, Congress leaders Sheila Dikshit and Ajay Maken, BJP's Gautam Gambhir, and Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli were among the early voters. As polling progressed, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and her sister Priyanka Gandhi, along with her husband Robert Vadra, cast their ballot.

Elections are being held in the sixth phase for 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, all ten in Haryana, eight seats each in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal and four in Jharkhand, in addition to seven seats in Delhi. Over 10.17 crore voters are expected to cast their ballot. There are 979 candidates in the fray in this phase.

Prominent among those contesting are former chief ministers Akhilesh Yadav (from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh), Digvijaya Singh (Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh), Bhupinder Singh Hooda (Sonepat in Haryana), and Sheila Dikshit (North-East Delhi).

Former Union Minister and RJD veteran Raghuvansh Prasad Singh are in the fray from Vaishali in Bihar, while Congress general secretary Jyotiraditya Scindia is contesting from Guna in Madhya Pradesh.

Re-polling is being conducted at booth number 116 in West Bengal's Barrackpore parliamentary constituency and booth number 110 in Arambag Lok Sabha seat, along with one polling station each in Puducherry and Tripura.

Polling began at 7 am across the seven states and will continue till 6 pm.

The seventh and last phase of the Lok Sabha election will take place on May 19 and counting of votes will be held on May 23.