New Delhi: The sixth phase of voting for Lok Sabha elections began this morning in 59 Parliamentary seats across seven States.
In today’s polling, over 101.7 million voters are expected to exercise their franchise. The fate of 979 candidates will be decided. Scuffle between BJP workers and TMC workers was reported in Bankura (West Bengal) after BJP alleged rigging by TMC workers.
The voting for sixth phase is taking place in Bihar (8 seats), Jharkhand (4), Madhya Pradesh (8), Uttar Pradesh (14), West Bengal (8), Haryana (10), and Delhi (7).
President Ramnath Kovind voted at a polling booth in Rashtrapati Bhawan early in the morning. Congress president Rahul Gandhi voted at a booth in Central Delhi.
Speaking to media persons after casting his vote, Rahul Gandhi, said, “It was a good fight. Narendra Modi used hatred and I used love. And I think love will triumph. The people are our maalik (boss). We will accept the people’s mandate.”
Ajay Maken, who is the Congress candidate from the New Delhi seat, accompanied him.
“There are four issues in this election, these are not our issues but people’s issues. And the most important among these is of unemployment. Then, condition of farmers, demonetisation, Gabbar Singh Tax (mocking GST), corruption and the Rafale issue,” Rahul added.
Among those who voted today include Union Minister Sushma Swaraj, BJP candidate and former cricketer Gautham Gambhir, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, cricketer Virat Kohli among others. “Voting is your right and responsibility towards nation building. Go vote,” tweeted Kohli while sharing a picture of himself flashing his inked finger.
Some of the key candidates in the fray in this phase are Maneka Gandhi, Varun Gandhi, Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Gautam Gambhir, Meenakshi Lekhi and Sadhvi Pragya (from BJP), Digvijaya Singh, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sheila Dikshit, Ajay Maken, Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Kirti Azad (Congress), Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party), Manas Bhunia (Trinamool Congress), and Atishi, Raghav Chadha and Dilip Pandey (AAP). Results of Lok Sabha elections and Assembly elections in four States will be declared on 23 May.
Violence in West Begal
A BJP worker and a Trinamool Congress worker were found dead in different parts of West Bengal. According to reports two other BJP workers were shot at in Bhagabanpur of East Midnapore. Ananta Guchait and Ranjit Maity is undergoing treatment at a local hospital.
The body of a Trinamool worker was found in Kanthi’s Mardhara area on Sunday morning. The area comes under the Contai Lok Sabha seat.In Jhargram, villagers recovered the body of a BJP booth-level worker on Saturday night hours before Lok Sabha elections commenced in the morning.
The body was found in Chunsole village under Belebera police station in Jhargram. The BJP worker has been identified as Raman Singh. BJP has alleged that he was attacked by Trinamool workers. However, local police say there are no injury marks on him after preliminary probe.
They say he suffered a seizure, which caused his death. The body has been sent for post mortem and a probe has been ordered. The Trinamool worker who was found dead in Contai has been identified as Sudhakar Maiti. According to sources, he was visiting a sick relative at the Kanthi Sub-Divisional Hospital on Saturday night after which he went missing.
| ‘People want effective govt’ |
| Prime Minister Narendra Modi today predicted defeat of the opposition parties, saying the people were voting for an effective government.
“Opposition parties will fall flat in Lok Sabha polls. This is because people are voting for an effective and honest government,” he said at an election rally in Uttar Pradesh. Attacking the SP-BSP alliance, Modi said he had been the chief minister of Gujarat more than the terms of Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati as Uttar Pradesh Chief Ministers combined, and there was no blot of corruption on him. Referring to the encounter in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday morning, the Prime Minister wondered, “Will our jawans take EC’s permission before opening fire at terrorists?’ |