The long-drawn 7-phase election in the world’s largest democracy—where the BJP is vying for a historic third term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi—concludes today with voting in 57 seats. Counting will take place on Tuesday.
Top 10 Points in this Big Story:
1. Voter Turnout: The turnout till 5 pm was 58.3%. In 2019, Phase 7 saw a 65.3% turnout.
2. Violence in Bengal: In West Bengal, where voting is taking place for nine seats, there were reports of violence, including in Kolkata. An angry mob in South 24 Parganas district barged into a polling station and threw an Electronic Voting Machine into a pond.
3. Seats in Focus: Of the 57 seats, nine are in West Bengal, 13 in Uttar Pradesh, eight in Bihar, six in Odisha, four in Himachal Pradesh, three in Jharkhand, and the lone seat of Union Territory Chandigarh.
4. Punjab’s Triangular Contest: All 13 seats of Punjab are voting today. The election is expected to be triangular, with INDIA allies Congress and Aam Aadmi Party having a “friendly” contest that might split the non-BJP vote, potentially benefiting the BJP.
5. Odisha Elections: Polling is taking place for the remaining 42 assembly seats and six Lok Sabha seats in Odisha.
6. Himachal By-Elections: By-elections are being held for six assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh, impacting the state’s Congress government. All six seats were previously held by the Congress, but the MLAs turned rebel, cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha election, then resigned and joined the BJP.
7. PM Modi’s Constituency: Varanasi, the constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is voting today. PM Modi first won the seat in 2014. Congress has fielded Ajai Rai, who finished third in the last two Lok Sabha elections.
8. Prominent Leaders: Key figures in today’s fray include BJP’s Union Minister Anurag Thakur from Hamirpur, junior finance minister Pankaj Chaudhary from Maharajganj, actor-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut from Mandi, and actor-politician Ravi Kishan from Gorakhpur. NDA leaders include RLM chief Upendra Kushwaha from Karakat and Union Minister Anupriya Patel from Mirzapur.
9. Opposition Leaders: From the Opposition, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee is contesting from Diamond Harbour, Misa Bharti (daughter of RJD chief Lalu Prasad) from Pataliputra, and Congress’s Charanjeet Singh Channi from Jalandhar.
10. Exit Polls: The election will be followed by exit polls, initially boycotted by the Congress. Today, the party reversed its decision, announcing that the INDIA bloc will participate in television debates.
The counting of votes will take place on June 4. Along with the Lok Sabha seats, counting will also be held for two state polls—Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. Votes for Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim will be counted on Sunday.
