A voter turnout of 61.76 per cent has been recorded in the sixth phase of ongoing Lok Sabha elections for which polling was held yesterday. The polling in all 58 Parliamentary Constituencies spread over six States and two Union Territories remained peaceful. In this phase polling was held on 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, all ten seats in Haryana, eight seats each in Bihar and West Bengal, all seven seats in Delhi, six in Odisha, four in Jharkhand and one Parliamentary Constituency in Jammu and Kashmir. Anantnag-Rajouri Parliamentary Constituency in Jammu and Kashmir has recorded over 54 per cent voting which is the highest turnout in the last 35 years. Bihar recorded a voter turnout of over 55 per cent, Haryana over 62 per cent, Jharkhand around 64 per cent and Delhi around 58 per cent. In Odisha, a voter turnout of around 71 per cent was recorded while Uttar Pradesh registered a voting percentage over 54 per cent and in West Bengal over 80 per cent.

A total of 889 candidates were in the fray in this phase. The prominent candidates whose fate was sealed in EVMs include, senior BJP leaders Dharmendra Pradhan, Maneka Gandhi, Manohar Lal Khattar and Manoj Tiwari and Congress leaders Deepender Singh Hooda, Kumari Selja, Raj Babbar and Kanhaiya Kumar. Samajwadi Party leader Dharmendra Yadav and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti were also in the fray.

Simultaneously, polling was also held today for 42 seats of Odisha Assembly in the third phase in which around 71 per cent polling was recorded. 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.

Akashvani correspondent reports that with the conclusion of phase six , polling for the Lok Sabha elections is now completed in 486 Parliamentary Constituencies in 28 States and UTs. The polling also completed for Assembly elections of Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Andhra Pradesh and 105 assembly seats of Odisha. The next and last phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections is scheduled on 1st of next month in 57 Parliamentary Constituencies. The counting for all the phases will take place on 4th of June.