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A voter turnout of 10.82 per cent was recorded till 9 am on Saturday in 58 constituencies in six states and two Union territories where polling is underway in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections.

 

West Bengal recorded the highest voter turnout in the first two hours of polling at 16.54 per cent while Odisha recorded the lowest at 7.43 per cent, according to the Election Commission (EC).

 

Uttar Pradesh recorded a voter turnout of 12.33 per cent, Jharkhand 11.74 per cent, Bihar 9.66 per cent, Jammu and Kashmir 8.89 per cent, Delhi 8.94 per cent and Haryana 8.31 per cent, the EC data showed.

 

In the national capital, President Droupadi Murmu, Union ministers S Jaishankar and Hardeep Singh Puri, Delhi minister Atishi, Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and outgoing East Delhi MP Gautam Gambhir were among the early voters.

 

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, who is contesting from the Anantnag-Rajouri seat in Jammu and Kashmir, claimed that outgoing calls on her mobile number have been suspended.

 

"I am not able to make any calls since morning. There is no explanation for this sudden suspension of services on the day of polling in the Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency," Mehbooba said.

 

The PDP also alleged that its workers and polling agents were detained by police ahead of polling.

 

Besides Delhi, polling is underway in 14 constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, all 10 seats in Haryana, eight seats each in Bihar and West Bengal, six seats in Odisha, four seats in Jharkhand and one seat in Jammu and Kashmir.

 

Simultaneously, polling is being held for 42 assembly constituencies in Odisha and the Karnal assembly bypoll in Haryana.

 

Voting began at 7 am and people were seen queuing up at polling stations.

 

In Haryana, Khattar and Saini were among the first to cast their votes at their respective booths.

 

Saini, accompanied by his family members, cast his vote in his native Mirjapur Majra village in Ambala district's Naraingarh. Khattar exercised his franchise at a polling booth in Karnal's Prem Nagar.

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge urged voters to exercise their right to franchise in the penultimate phase of the Lok Sabha elections in large numbers.

 

"I urge all those who are voting in the 6th phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections to vote in large numbers. Every vote counts, make yours count too! Democracy thrives when its people are engaged and active in the electoral process. I especially urge women voters and youth voters to vote in large numbers," Modi said in a post on X.

 

Kejriwal said, "Each vote cast by you in this great festival of democracy will be against the authoritarian mindset and strengthen democracy and the Constitution of India. Go to the polling stations and assert that there is democracy in India and democracy will remain in India through your votes." Kharge appealed to people to vote against the politics of hatred, rhetoric and distraction.

 

Over 11.13 crore voters - 5.84 crore male, 5.29 crore female and 5,120 third gender -- are eligible to exercise their franchise in the sixth phase. The EC has deployed around 11.4 lakh polling officials at 1.14 lakh polling stations.

 

With large parts of India sweltering under a heatwave, the poll panel has directed election officials and state machineries to take adequate measures to manage the adverse impact of hot weather.

 

In West Bengal, voting will be held in the tribal belt Jangal Mahal region, spanning five districts. 

 

A hotspot for identity politics, the region sends eight representatives to Lok Sabha from Tamluk, Kanthi, Ghatal, Jhargram, Medinipur, Purulia, Bankura, and Bishnupur seats. Out of the eight seats, the BJP won five and TMC bagged three in the 2019 polls.

 

An interesting fight is on the cards in Delhi with the BJP and INDIA bloc partners Congress and AAP pitted in a direct, one-on-one contest in all the seven seats.

 

In Uttar Pradesh, polling is underway for Sultanpur, Pratapgarh, Phulpur, Allahabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Shrawasti, Domariyaganj, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Lalganj, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Machhlishahr and Bhadohi seats.

Around 82.16 lakh voters, including 40.09 lakh females, are eligible to exercise their franchise in Giridih, Dhanbad, Ranchi and Jamshedpur constituencies of Jharkhand.

 

In Bihar, 86 candidates are in the fray in the eight seats of Valmiki Nagar, Pashchim Champaran, Purbi Champaran, Sheohar, Siwan, Gopalganj, Maharajganj and Vaishali.

 

Polling is also being held in Odisha's six parliamentary constituencies of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Puri and Sambalpur along with 42 assembly seats under these Lok Sabha segments.