Hyderabad: Voting in all 57 constituencies across eight states and union territories in the final and the seventh phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls ended on Saturday at 6 PM. The Lok Sabha seats were spread across Bihar, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. There were 904 candidates in fray.
Amid scorching heat, polling stations welcomed the voters with basic facilities including ample shade, drinking water, ramps, and toilets to ensure smooth voting. Around 10.9 lakh polling officials were at work in 1.09 lakh polling stations, to help 10.06 crore electors exercise their franchise. Of this, 5.24 crore are male voters while 4.82 crore and 3,674 are female and third gender electors.
This mark a grand finish to the world’s largest polling marathon that began on April 19. The counting of votes will take place on June 4. The 2024 Lok Sabha election's period of voting was spread over 44 days, is the second longest. In 1951-52, Independent India held elected its maiden elections to its parliament in a span of over four months.
In Ferozepur, BSP candidate, Surinder Kamboj, shared a video of him exercising franchise and the same being captured by the VVPAT. He has been booked by the Ferozepur Police for violating the Representation of People Act, 1951.
- 5.44 PM
A voter turn out of 58.34 per cent was recorded till 5 PM, according to the Voter Turnout app of the Election Commission of India. The voter turn in Bihar till 5 PM was recorded at 48.86 per cent, while the voter turn out in Chandigarh was recorded at 62.80 per cent. 66.56 per cent voter turnout was recorded in Himachal Pradesh, while the voter turnout in Jharkhand was recorded at 67.95 per cent. In Odisha, the voter turnout was recorded at 62.46 per cent while in Punjab the voter turn out till 5 PM was recorded at 55.20 per cent. In Uttar Pradesh, the voter turnout recorded till 5 PM, was 55.00 per cent while the voter turnout in West Bengal was recorded at 69.89 per cent.
- 4.39 PM
West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee cast her vote at a polling booth in Kolkata. The TMC has fielded candidates on all 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
- 4.22 PM
Tension prevailed in Sandeshkhali under Basirhat Lok Sabha segment when local women ventured out on to the streets carrying bamboo sticks protesting against the alleged threats to their family members by local party activists accompanied by the police. When the situation went out of control, the police lobbed teargas shells to control the situation.
- 4.03 PM
Family members of an eighty-year-old Bihar woman, who died on Saturday, preferred to first cast their vote and then perform her last rites. The incident occurred during the last phase of polling at Devkuli village in Jehanabad Lok Sabha constituency. "My mother died today. She will not come back. Cremation can wait, but not the election. The election will come after five years. Therefore, we (family members) discussed the matter and decided to perform the last rites of our mother after casting our votes," Mithilesh Yadav, son of the deceased, told reporters.
- 3.34 PM
A voter turn out of 49.68 per cent was recorded till 3 PM, according to the Voter Turnout app of the Election Commission of India. The voter turn in Bihar till 3 PM was recorded at 42.95 per cent, while the voter turn out in Chandigarh was recorded at 52.61 per cent. 58.41 per cent voter turnout was recorded in Himachal Pradesh, while the voter turnout in Jharkhand was recorded at 60.14 per cent. In Odisha, the voter turnout was recorded at 49.77 per cent while in Punjab the voter turn out till 3 PM was recorded at 46.38 per cent. In Uttar Pradesh, the voter turnout recorded till 3 PM, was 46.83 per cent while the voter turnout in West Bengal was recorded at 58.46 per cent. Varanasi, from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is contesting the polls, has recorded a voter turnout of 48.38 per cent till 3 PM.
- 2.57 PM
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate from Patiala Lok Sabha seat Dr Balbir Singh cast his vote in a polling booth at Patiala. "It is our democratic right to vote. We should be very thoughtful while voting. Voters should choose the right representative and party. We(AAP) will win all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab," Dr Balbir Singh said. - 2.00 PM
In Ferozepur, BSP candidate, Surinder Kamboj, shared a video of him exercising franchise and the same being captured by the VVPAT. He has been booked by the Ferozepur Police for violating the Representation of People Act, 1951."A case has come before us where BSP candidate Surinder Kamboj made a video of himself casting his vote. An FIR has been registered against him for this violation of rules. We urge all candidates to follow the rules and the law. Voting in the constituency is being conducted peacefully,” ANI quoted Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate, Ferozepur, Rajesh Dhiman, as saying. - 1.27 PM
At 1 pm, the total voter turnout for the 7the phase of the Lok Sabha Election 2024 has reached 40.09 per cent, with Himachal Pradesh leading the way with 48.63 per cent, followed by Jharkhand at 46.80 per cent. Bihar recorded the lowest voter turnout at 35.65 per cent. West Bengal recorded the voter turnout at 45.07 percent, Chandigarh recorded 40.14 per cent, Uttar Pradesh at 39.31 per cent, Punjab at 37.80 per cent, and Odisha 37.64 per cent. - 12.45 PM
At 11 AM, the polling percentage across the seven States and a union territory stood at 26.30%. Himachal Pradesh posted nearly 32%, the highest among the States, while Odisha polled 22.64%, followed by Punjab and Bihar with 23.91% and 24.25%. Uttar Pradesh polled and West Bengal polled slightly over 28% and Jharkhand polled 29.55%. - 12.27 PM
Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia along with his wife cast their vote at a polling booth in Majithia village under the Amritsar Lok Sabha constituency. SAD has fielded Anil Joshi, BJP has fielded Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Congress has fielded Gurjeet Singh Aujla and AAP has fielded Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal. - 12.17 PM
RJD leaders Tejashwi Yadav, Tej Pratap Yadav cast their votes at a polling booth in Patna, Bihar. Polling for eight seats is underway in Bihar in the last and the final phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. - 12.15 PM
Trinamool Congress MP and actor Nussrat Jahan cast her vote at a polling booth in Kolkata. - 11.49 AM
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu cast his vote at a polling station in Hamirpur for the seventh phase of Lok Sabha Election 2024. Voting for all the four seats in the hill state is underway. - 11.25 AM
BJP candidate from Balasore Lok Sabha seat Pratap Chandra Sarangi cast his vote. Congress has fielded Srikant Jena whereas BJD's Lekhasri Samantsinghar is the other candidate from the constituency. - 11.15 AM
Himachal Pradesh Leader of Opposition and BJP leader Jairam Thakur cast his vote at a polling booth in Mandi. As many as 10 candidates including BJP's Kangana Ranawat and Congress's Vikramaditya Singh are in the fray. - 11.05 AM
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal cast her vote at a polling booth in Badal village under the Firozpur Lok Sabha constituency SAD has fielded Nardev Singh Bobby Mann from this seat. BJP has fielded Gurmit Singh Sodhi, Congress has fielded Sher Singh Ghubaya and AAP has fielded Jagdeep Singh Kaka Brar. - 10. 35 AM
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal cast his vote at a polling booth in Badal village under the Firozpur Lok Sabha constituency SAD has fielded Nardev Singh Bobby Mann from this seat. BJP has fielded Gurmit Singh Sodhi, Congress has fielded Sher Singh Ghubaya and AAP has fielded Jagdeep Singh Kaka Brar. - 10.20 AM
TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee cast his vote at a polling booth in Diamond Harbour. The Diamond Harbour poll battleground encapsulates an intense dynamic in West Bengal's political landscape where the TMC, led by its de facto number two Abhishek Banerjee, touts the seat as a 'model constituency' while the opposition paints it as a 'laboratory of violence'. A victory with an enhanced margin compared to 2019 will surely bolster Banerjee's leadership credentials and consolidate his influence in the party at a time when sharp intra-party fractures have cost the TMC influential leaders like Tapas Roy and Arjun Singh ahead of the ensuing polls and ace organisers like Suvendu Adhikari three years ago, all to the BJP. Nestled between Kolkata and the South 24 Parganas district, Diamond Harbour stands as a strategic stronghold for the Trinamool Congress. The stakes are high, with outcomes poised to influence both TMC's inner dynamics and West Bengal's politics at large in the days ahead. - 9.55 AM
BJP MP and candidate from Patna Sahib constituency, Ravi Shankar Prasad and his wife Maya Shankar cast their vote at a polling booth in Patna. As many as 17 candidates are in the fray from the Patna Sahib constituency including IND's Awadhesh Prasad, INC's Anshul Avijit, BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad, and BSP's Neeraj Kumar - 9.45 AM
BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh and members of his family cast their votes at a polling booth in Amritsar. Main contenders from this seats are Congress's Gurjeet Singh Aujla, BJP's Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal of AAP and SAD's Anil Joshi. - 9.40 AM
Himachal Pradesh recorded maximum 14.35 % polling followed by 12.94 % by Uttar Pradesh and 12.63% by West Bengal in the first two hours of voting on Saturday. - 9.25 AM
The incidents of sporadic violence which began a day before the polling are continuing on Saturday. Bhangar area has been witnessing clashes between the TMC and ISF workers. In Kultali, aggrieved villagers, who were protesting against TMC cadres' alleged intimation and obstruction to BJP agents in polling booths, dropped an EVM machine in a pond as a mode of protest. - 9.10 AM
BJP candidate from Mandi Lok Sabha, Kangana Ranaut cast her vote at a polling station in Mandi. - 9.05 AM
Union Minister and BJP candidate from Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat, Anurag Thakur cast his vote at a polling station in Hamirpur. - 9 AM
HAM founder & NDA candidate from Gaya Lok Sabha seat Jitan Ram Manjhi long with his son and party president Santosh Suman cast vote at a polling booth in Jehanabad. - 8.58 AM
BJP Lok Sabha candidate from Jadavpur Lok Sabha Constituency, Anirban Ganguly cast his vote at a polling station in Jadavpur. TMC and CPIM have fielded Sayani Ghosh and Srijan Bhattacharyya respectively. - 8.56 AM
Congress candidate from Patiala Lok Sabha seat Dharamvir Gandhi cast his vote for Lok Sabha Election 2024. BJP has fielded Preneet Kaur and Balbir Singh is the AAP candidate from Patiala. - 8.52 AM
After casting his vote in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur, Himachal Pradesh Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla says, "I have cast my vote today. All the voters should cast their votes today and vote for a government that can carry forward development work." - 8.48 AM
Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and his wife Dr Gurpreet Kaur cast their votes at a polling booth in Sangrur constituency. The seat sees a contest between Congress' Sukhpal Singh Khaira, BJP's Arvind Khanna, AAP's Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, SAD's Iqbal Singh Jhundan, and Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar)'s Simranjit Singh Mann. - 8.40 AM
BJP leader Jaiveer Shergill casts his vote for the last phase of LokSabha Election 2024 at a polling station in Jalandhar, Punjab. AAP's Pawan Kumar Tinu, BJP's Shushil Kumar Rinku and Congress' Charanjit Singh Channi are up against in the constituency. - 8.20 AM
Sikkim Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya cast his vote for the final phase of at a polling station in Ramnagar, Varanasi. - 8.10 AM
RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rabri Devi and their daughter and party candidate from Saran Lok Sabha seat Rohini Acharya cast their votes. - 8.05 AM
Actor-turned-politician Mithun Chakraborty cast his vote in Kolkata. After casting his vote at a polling booth in Belgachia, he said, "...I am a BJP cadre, I have done my duty..." - 8.02 AM
Congress candidate from Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa cast his vote. - 7.55 AM
BJP MP and candidate from Gorakhpur, Ravi Kishan and his wife Preeti Kishan cast their votes at a polling booth in the constituency. The Gorakhpur seat sees a contest amid BJP's Ravi Kishan, SP's Kajal Nishad and BSP's Javed Ashraf. - 7.45 AM
Former Indian cricketer and AAP Rajya Sabha MP Harbhajan Singh cast his vote at a polling booth in Jalandhar. - 7.25 AM
Former diplomat and BJP candidate from Amritsar constituency, Taranjit Singh Sandhu cast his vote at a polling booth in the constituency. He faces a contest from Congress MP & candidate Gurjeet Singh Aujla, AAP's Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal and SAD's Anil Joshi. - 7.14 AM
Samajwadi Party's Lok Sabha candidate from Ghazipur, Afzal Ansari cast his vote at a polling booth in the constituency. - 7.13 AM
BJP national president JP Nadda cast his vote at a polling booth in Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh. His wife Mallika Nadda also cast her vote here. Nadda said, "...I was the first voter here (in his booth). I appeal to all voters to vote in large numbers for a capable and self-reliant India. I urge voters to vote and contribute towards making India a capable, self-reliant and developed India...I consider this a festival of democracy..." - 7.05 AM
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath cast his vote at a polling booth in Gorakhnath, Gorakhpur. The Gorakhpur seat sees a contest amid BJP's Ravi Kishan, SP's Kajal Nishad and BSP's Javed Ashraf.
After casting his vote, UP CM Yogi Adityanath said, "This is the festival of democracy- #LokSabhaElections2024 . Today, voting is also being held in 57 Lok Sabha seats including 13 seats of Uttar Pradesh. Various political parties put forth their issues before the public...The voters have shown great enthusiasm, I want to thank all of them who have come out to cast their votes. Looking at the support we are receiving across the country, we can say that when the results come on June 4th, the party that has worked for the youth and the country will be successful...We have faith that on June 4th, the Modi government will be formed again...."Yogi Adityanath votes (ETV Bharat) - 7.01 AM
As soon as the polling for the seventh phase began, PM Narendra Modi tweeted, "Today is the final phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections...I hope young and women voters exercise their franchise in record numbers. Together, let’s make our democracy more vibrant and participative." - 7 AM
AAP MP Raghav Chadha cast his vote at a polling station in Lakhnaur, Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar under the Anandpur Sahib constituency.Raghav Chadha votes (ETV Bharat)
Seats where voting will take place:
Punjab: Voting will be held in all the 13 seats in Punjab. These include Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Khadoor Sahib, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Anandpur Sahib, Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib, Faridkot, Firozpur, Bathinda, Sangrur and Patiala.
Uttar Pradesh: Voting will be held in as many as 13 seats of Uttar Pradesh. The seats are Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushi Nagar, Deoria, Bansgaon, Ghosi, Salempur, Ballia, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Mirzapur and Robertsganj.
Bihar: Voting will be held in eight seats of Bihar. These seats are Arrah, Buxar, Karakat, Jahanabad, Nalanda, Pataliputra, Patna Sahib and Sasaram.
Himachal Pradesh: All the four seats in Himachal Pradesh - Kangra, Mandi, Hamirpur, Shimla - will go to polls.
Chandigarh: Polling will also be held for the lone seat of Chandigarh.
Odisha: Voting will be held in six seats of Odisha. These are Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur
West Bengal: Voting will be held for nine seats in West Bengal. The seats are Dum Dum, Barasat, Basirhat, Jaynagar, Mathurapur, Diamond Harbour, Jadavpur, Kolkata Dakshin and Kolkata Uttar.
Jharkhand: Voting for three seats in Jharkhand will be held. The seats are Rajmahal, Dumka and Godda.
Key candidates
Among the key candidates whose fate will be sealed are Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior BJP leader and former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. While the PM is contesting from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Ravi Shankar Prasad is contesting the polls from Patna Sahib in Bihar.
The other key candidates who are contesting the polls are Union Minister Anurag Thakur, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Prasad's daughter Misa Bharti and actor Kangana Ranaut. Kangana is contesting from Mandi from Himachal Pradesh and she is pitted against Congress candidate Vikramaditya Singh.
TMC heavyweight Abhishek Banerjee, considered the party's de facto number two, is contesting from Diamond Harbour. Banerjee's performance in this seat, which the TMC touts as a 'model constituency', will be closely watched as the opposition attempts to paint it as a 'laboratory of violence'.
In Punjab, prominent candidates in the fray are four-time MP Preneet Kaur, former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, three-time MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Ravneet Singh Bittu.
Union Minister RK Singh is another key candidate. RK Singh is aiming at a hat-trick from Arrah, where his principal challenger is Sudama Prasad, a sitting MLA of the CPI(ML) Liberation.
