Lok Sabha Elections: Over 60% voter turnout in phase 6, West Bengal leads with 78%

Lok Sabha elections 2024: The sixth phase of voting recorded a 60.26% turnout in 58 constituencies spanning six states and two Union territories.

Millions of Indians voted in the penultimate phase of a gruelling Lok Sabha election amid scorching heat waves in several parts of the country. A voter turnout of 60.26 per cent was recorded on Saturday in 58 constituencies across six states and two Union territories where polling was held in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections.

Voters queue up to cast their ballots at a polling station during the sixth phase of voting in India's general election, in village Tigaon on the outskirts of Faridabad on May 25, 2024.(AFP)

West Bengal continued its pattern of high polling percentage with over 78% voter turnout, while Bihar and Uttar Pradesh saw slow voting with 55.24% and 54.03% turnout, according to the figures updated by the EC on its voter turnout app.

Delhi, voting in a single phase, recorded 56.94% turnout, followed by Haryana at 59.51%, Odisha at 62.98%, and Jharkhand at 63.73%.

Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency witnessed over 53 per cent polling, the highest since the start of militancy in Kashmir in 1989.

These are provisional numbers and the final voter turnout is expected to increase, albeit marginally.

“In spite of hot weather in certain parts of the country, voters were undeterred in their enthusiasm as they were seen queuing up patiently to cast their votes across the country,” the ECI said in a press note.

“A large number of voters were still in the queue at some polling stations at the prescribed time of closing of poll,” it added.

President Droupadi Murmu and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar were among the early voters. Congress party leaders, Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi, also voted in New Delhi.

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Sporadic incidents of violence were reported from some areas in the eight Lok Sabha constituencies of West Bengal. Out of the eight seats, the BJP won five and TMC bagged three in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

A voter turnout of 63.73% was recorded in the four Lok Sabha constituencies in Jharkhand—Giridih, Dhanbad, Ranchi, and Jamshedpur. Giridih had the highest turnout at 66.86%, followed by Jamshedpur (66.79%), Ranchi (61.93%), and Dhanbad (60.40%).

In Bihar, 55.24% of the 1.49 crore eligible voters cast their votes in eight Lok Sabha constituencies. Vaishali recorded the highest polling at 58.68%, followed by Purvi Champaran (58.22%), Paschim Champaran (57.92%), Valmiki Nagar (58.14%), Sheohar (56.18%), Siwan (51.85%), Maharajganj (51.15%), and Gopalganj (50.68%).

Odisha reported a 64.54% voter turnout in six Lok Sabha constituencies and 42 assembly segments on Saturday. The highest turnout for the Lok Sabha election in the state was recorded in Sambalpur (70.62%), while the assembly segment with the highest turnout was Khandapada (79.80%).

In Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency, nearly 54% of the 18.36 lakh electorate voted on Saturday, marking the highest turnout in more than 28 years. The Surankote Assembly segment saw the highest turnout at 68.56%, followed by Rajouri with 67.09%. Anantnag, Anantnag West, and Kulgam Assembly segments recorded below 35% turnout.

People's Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti held a protest with her supporters claiming that scores of her party workers were detained by the police to prevent them from voting.