• Source:JND
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The polling for the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha polls was held in 58 constituencies across several states in the country. According to the data shared by the Election Commission of India, a voter turnout of 59.82 per cent was recorded in the sixth phase. The polling constituencies include eight seats in Bihar, all 10 seats in Haryana, one seat in Jammu and Kashmir, four in Jharkhand, all seven seats in Delhi, six in Odisha, 14 in Uttar Pradesh, and eight in West Bengal.

A total of 889 candidates are in the fray in this phase of the polls. Besides, polling also took place for the forty-two assembly constituencies in Odisha in the sixth phase. The assembly elections are also being held in the state simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections in the state.

Sixth Phase Of Lok Sabha Polls: A Lookback

Polling for 58 Lok Sabha seats across eight states and Union Territories began at 7 a.m. and continued till 6 p.m. In phase 6 of the polls, Uttar Pradesh had a maximum of 470 nomination forms from 14 parliamentary constituencies, followed by Haryana with 370 nominations from 10 constituencies. The polling was mostly peaceful, and no reports of violence emerged during this phase of voting. 

(Image: Voters show ink-marked fingers after casting vote for the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections.)

The Election Commission reported that over 111.3 million voters, including 58.4 million men, 52.9 million women, and 5,120 individuals of the third gender, were eligible to vote. To facilitate this, the poll body deployed close to 1.14 million polling officials at 1,14,000 polling stations.

Voter Turnout During Phase 6

According to the Election Commission of India data, West Bengal recorded the highest voter turnout (78 per cent) followed by Jharkhand (61.41 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (52.02 per cent), Odisha (59.60 per cent), Jammu and Kashmir (51.35 per cent), Bihar (52.24 per cent), Haryana (55.93 per cent), and Delhi (53.73 per cent).

Key Seats In Phase Six Polls

Key seats in the sixth phase of Lok Sabha polls include New Delhi, North-East Delhi, North-West Delhi, Chandni Chowk in the national capital, and Sultanpur and Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh. Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag-Rajouri, West Bengal's Tamluk, Medinipur, Haryana's Karnal, Kurukshetra, Gurgaon, Rohtak, and Odisha's Bhubaneswar, Puri, and Sambalpur are some of the other key seats. Stakes are high for the BJP as well as for the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party, and other constituents of the INDIA bloc in this phase of the election.

The stakes are high for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as well as for Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and other constituents of INDIA bloc in this phase of the election. The contest in Delhi has the AAP and Congress jointly taking on the BJP, which won all seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital in the last two elections. 

While Congress is contesting on three seats in the national capital, AAP is contesting on four. The two parties are part of the INDIA bloc. 

Prominent Candidates In Phase 6

Among the prominent candidates in the fray are two former Chief Ministers, Manohar Lal Khattar and Mehbooba Mufti. Khattar is contesting as the candidate from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from Karnal, and Mehbooba Mufti as the PDP nominee from Anantnag-Rajouri. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, and former Union Minister Maneka Gandhi are also in the fray.

Bansuri Swaraj, Somnath Bharti, Manoj Tiwari, Kanhaiya Kumar, Dinesh Lal Yadav, alias 'Nirahua', Dharmendra Yadav, Abhijit Gangopadhyay, Agnimitra Paul, Naveen Jindal, Raj Babbar, Deepender Singh Hooda, Kumari Selja, and Aparajita Sarangia are among the other prominent candidates in the fray.

(With input from agencies)