Page 8 - Voting

Lok Sabha polls 2024 Phase 7: Over 40% voter turnout recorded till 1 pm

Lok Sabha polls 2024 Phase 7 voter turnout: Himachal Pradesh had the highest voter turnout at 48.63

LS elections: Punjab records nearly 38% turnout, Chandigarh 40% until 1 pm

Polling began on Saturday morning for 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in Punjab and the lone Chandigarh seat in the seventh and final phase of parliamentary elections. Amid tight security arrangements, polling began at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm, said the officials. INDIA bloc allies -- the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) -- are contesting separately while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) are contesting the Lok Sabha polls on their own for the first time since 1996. The Sukhbir Badal-led SAD walked out of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in 2020 over the now-repealed three farm laws. Besides the Congress, AAP, SAD and the BJP, two other parties -- SAD (Amritsar) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) -- have also fielded their candidates. Punjab is going to witness a multi-cornered contest on all the 13 Lok Sabha seats. The AAP, Congress, SAD, BJP, BSP and the SAD (Amritsar) are contesting in all the constituencies of Punjab. However, the .

LS polls: 37.64% turnout till 1 pm in 6 LS, 42 assembly seats in Odisha

Polling commenced for six Lok Sabha constituencies and 42 assembly seats in Odisha on Saturday morning, amid tight security, a poll official said. Voting began at 7 am in Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, and Jagatsinghpur Lok Sabha seats, along with the 42 assembly segments that constitute these parliamentary constituencies. Polling will continue till 6 pm as there are no Maoist-hit zones under these Lok Sabha seats, the official added. Approximately 1 crore voters are eligible to cast their votes across 10,882 booths in the fourth and final round of simultaneous elections in the state. Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) NB Dhal assured that adequate arrangements have been made for voters' convenience at all booths, considering the prevailing hot and humid weather conditions. In all, 36,000 security personnel and 72,000 polling officials have been deployed for this round of twin polls in the state. Sixty-six candidates are contesting for the six Lok Sabha seats, whil

LS polls: Over 45% voter turnout recorded in 9 seats in Bengal till 1 pm

Polling in the seventh and last phase of Lok Sabha elections to nine seats in West Bengal began at 7 am on Saturday amid tight security arrangements, an Election Commission of India (ECI) official said. Voting in Dum Dum, Barasat, Basirhat, Jaynagar, Mathurapur, Diamond Harbour, Jadavpur, Kolkata Dakshin and Kolkata Uttar seats will continue till 6 pm, he added. A total of 1.63 crore voters, including 83.19 lakh men, 80.20 lakh women and 538 persons of the third gender, are eligible to exercise their franchise at 17,470 polling stations. Of the 124 candidates in the fray, Kolkata Dakshin has the highest at 17, followed by Jadavpur (16), and 15 each in Basirhat and Kolkata Uttar. Fourteen candidates are contesting from Dum Dum, 12 each from Barasat, Diamond Harbour and Mathurapur and 11 in Jaynagar. Several heavyweight candidates, including Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, sitting MPs Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Sougata Roy, and Mala Roy, former Union minister Debas

LS polls: Himachal Pradesh records 48.63% voter turnout till 1 pm

Polling for four Lok Sabha seats and six assembly by-elections began across Himachal on Saturday morning. As many as 62 candidates, including 37 for Lok Sabha and 25 for assembly by-elections, are in the fray. Prominent leaders whose fate will be sealed in these elections include Anurag Thakur (BJP), Anand Sharma (Congress), Bollywood actor Kangna Ranaut (BJP), Vikramaditya Singh (Congress) and sitting BJP MP from Shimla (SC) Suresh Kashyap. Polling is being held for four Lok Sabha seats -- Hamirpur, Mandi, Kangra and Shimla -- besides by-elections for six assembly constituencies of Sujanpur, Dharamshala, Lahaul and Spiti, Barsar, Gagret and Kutlehar. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP national president J P Nadda, Union minister Nitin Gadkari, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi addressed rallies in support of their candidates during the election campaign. Severe heatwave conditions in lower hills a

LS polls 2024: 46.80% turnout recorded till 1 pm in Jharkhand's 3 seats

Voting for three Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand commenced on Saturday, amid tight security, officials said. Polling began at 7 am in Dumka, Rajmahal, and Godda, and will continue till 5 pm. A total of 52 candidates, including eight women, are contesting in this final phase, the state's fourth and the seventh nationwide. Nineteen candidates each are competing in Dumka and Godda, while Rajmahal has 14 contestants. Approximately 53.23 lakh voters are eligible to cast their ballots in these three constituencies, with Godda having the highest number of voters at 20.28 lakh, and Dumka the lowest at 15.91 lakh. Over two lakh are first-time voters in the 18-19 age group, while 439 are aged over 100 years. Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) K Ravi Kumar said preparations are in place for free and fair polls, including sealing the borders with neighboring Bihar and West Bengal, where polls are also taking place. Arrangements have been made to transport elderly citizens and persons with disabilitie

Lok Sabha polls 2024 Phase 7: Over 26.3% voter turnout recorded till 11 am

Lok Sabha elections 2024: Seventh phase will see voting in 57 of 543 Lok Sabha constituencies, across seven states and one UT

LS polls phase 7: Voting underway in 57 constituencies in 8 states, UT

In the seventh and final phase of the general election on Saturday, polling is being held for 57 constituencies spread across seven states and the Union Territory of Chandigarh, including Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a third consecutive term in the Lok Sabha. The voting is being held in all 13 seats of Punjab and four of Himachal Pradesh, 13 constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, nine in West Bengal, eight in Bihar, six in Odisha and three in Jharkhand, besides Chandigarh. Polling for the remaining 42 Assembly constituencies in Odisha and bypolls to six Assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh are also taking place simultaneously. The voting began at 7 am. Voters were seen standing in queues in front of polling booths since early in the morning among severe heatwave conditions in several parts of the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to people to exercise their franchise. "Together, let's make our democracy more vibrant and ...

LS polls: 70,000 security personnel deployed for Jun 1 elections in Punjab

Around 70,000 security personnel, including central forces, have been deployed in the wake of polling in 13 Lok Sabha seats on June 1, Punjab Chief Electoral Officer Sibin C said here on Friday. Besides, 1.20 lakh polling staff have been deployed for the voting in the state, he said. Polling for 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab will take place from 7 am till 6 pm on Saturday. Addressing the media here, the Punjab CEO said the total number of voters in Punjab is 2,14,61,739 comprising 1,12,86,726 male voters and 1,01,74,240 female voters and 773 transgender voters. In comparison to the total number of voters during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in Punjab, there was an increase of around seven lakh in number of voters, said the Punjab CEO, accompanied by nodal officer and IPS officer M F Farooqui. The CEO said 5,38,715 voters belong to the 18-19 age group, who are eligible for casting their votes for the first time. He further said that a target of achieving more than 70 per cent voter turn

Election turnout 35 million more this time compared to 2019: SBI Research

Expects sovereign rating upgrade by 2026-27

Centre recovered, returned Rs 17k cr from scams to citizens: Modi in Bengal

During an election rally in West Bengal's Ashoknagar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the BJP will return Rs 3,000 crore to the people of Bengal defrauded by the Mamata Banerjee- government

Encountering 'dead' voters: Myriad experience of poll officials in Bengal

From encountering 'dead' voters to navigating pitch-dark school corridors, revelling in the scenic beauty of a dam to scrubbing neglected toilets, polling officials encountered an array of extraordinary challenges while conducting elections in West Bengal. It's this effort to uphold democracy with an unwavering commitment that poll personnel strive to achieve despite the myriad obstacles coming their way which perhaps ensures that a vast and complex process of conducting parliamentary elections in a nation like India culminates successfully edition after edition. Even as six of the seven phases of the Lok Sabha polls in the country drew to a close, PTI spoke to some polling officials in West Bengal who returned to their base to share their riveting tales. Arup Karmakar, a school teacher from Durgapur, is one among those who spoke about his remarkable experience during the poll assignment. "My duty was at a booth at a school in Barabani assembly segment under Asansol Lok Sabha ...

S Africa's IEC optimistic about record turnout for nations' general polls

South Africa's Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) remained optimistic that a record number of voters would show up on Wednesday for the country's general elections. At a media briefing on Tuesday evening, the IEC said it was buoyed by the 937,144 voters on the second and final day of the special voting which was scheduled for those who would be working on election day or unable to go to polling stations due to disability, old age, or other reasons. This figure is much higher than was the case in the previous elections and augurs well for an improved voter turnout tomorrow, said IEC Chief Executive Sy Mamabolo. Commending the election commission's staff, he said, We are impressed with the diligence of the electoral staff who visited voters at homes and places of confinement in order to administer home visits." "This category of voters would otherwise have been unable to record their political choices, he added. Mamabolo said the Commission, however, remained concerned about ..

LS polls: 63.37% voting recorded in phase 6, over 70.5 mn voters turn up

The penultimate phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections recorded 63.37 per cent voter turnout with 7.05 crore out of 11.13 crore eligible voters exercising their franchise, the Election Commission of India on Tuesday said. As many as 58 seats in eight states went to polls in the sixth phase on May 25. Of the 87.54 crore electors in the first six phases of the Lok Sabha polls, as many as 57.77 crore voters turned up at the polling stations to cast their votes. India has the largest electorate in the world at 96.88 crore. The citizens, who are enrolled in the electoral rolls, are described as electors while those who actually cast their votes are called voters. In the 2019 general elections, the turnout in the sixth phase (59 seats in seven states that went to polls) was 64.4 per cent. According to the Election Commission (EC), the voter turnout in the fifth phase of the ongoing polls held on May 20 was recorded at 62.2 per cent. The turnout in the fourth phase stood at 69.16 per

Voting advisory firms divided over FMCG major ITC hotel demerger move

IiAS recommends 'against' vote; InGovern, SES bat the deal

Narrow escape for Rahul Gandhi: Stage collapses partially in Bihar rally

INDIA bloc rally in Bihar: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi momentarily loses his balance as the stage almost collapsed during a rally in Bihar's Paliganj

From pink bus to HC expansion: What Chandigarh BJP manifesto promises

The 20-page manifesto by BJP candidate Sanjay Tandon focuses on issues such as women, artists, patients visiting Chandigarh, and the role of the Member of Parliament (MP) in dealing with bureaucrats

Phase 6 of Lok Sabha elections: J&K shines but Haryana disappoints

The EC pointed out that the voter turnout in the districts of Anantnag, Poonch, Kulgam, and districts of Rajouri and Shopian partially, was the highest since 1989, or in 35 years

Lok Sabha polls 2024 Phase 6: Over 39.1% voter turnout recorded till 1 pm

Lok Sabha elections 2024: Sixth phase will see voting in 58 of 543 Lok Sabha constituencies, including all seven seats in Delhi

Lok Sabha polls 2024: EC releases absolute number of voters for 5 phases

Election Commission says recorded vote counts was communicated to all candidates' polling agents on the polling day and such data is unalterable