The sixth and penultimate phase of polling for 59 seats of Lok Sabha ended with 63.3% voter turnout. This phase was largely peaceful other than sporadic incidents of squabbles and violent clashes in U.P. and Bengal, reports Navodita. An exclusive for Different Truths.

Elections were held in 14 seats in UP, 10 seats in Haryana, eight constituencies each in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, four in Jharkhand and seven seats in Delhi as 63.3% voting was recorded in the sixth phase. According to the Chief Electoral Officer, Delhi recorded 60% turnout in the polls, whereas in 2014 it was 65%.

The maximum number of VVPAT machines, which faced glitches were changed in the South Delhi Lok Sabha constituency, while the minimum was replaced in the Northeast segment that delayed the poll process.

Electoral representatives and lawmakers from over 18 countries witnessed the complex Indian election process in action and the use of the Electronic Voting Machines, in the national capital.

Electoral representatives and lawmakers from over 18 countries witnessed the complex Indian election process in action and the use of the Electronic Voting Machines, in the national capital. E A Shevchenko, a member of the Central Election Commission of Russia, said he visited 12 polling stations in Delhi and spoke to election observers.

Sporadic violence, scuffles, and allegations of vote rigging marked the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh in which polling was held on 14 seats. The voter turnout was recorded at 50.6 per cent at 5.p.m., which was comparatively lower, mainly due to intense heat wave conditions prevailing in the eastern parts of the state.

Sporadic violence, scuffles, and allegations of vote rigging marked the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh in which polling was held on 14 seats.

Haryana, on Sunday, witnessed 51.80 per cent voting till 4 p.m. for the state’s 10 Lok Sabha seats, an official said. The highest voter turnout was recorded in the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh seat at 53 per cent, followed by Sonipat, Hisar and Sirsa. Voting began at 7 a.m. for the Ambala, Kurukshetra, Gurugram, Faridabad, Hisar, Sirsa, Karnal, Sonipat, Bhiwani-Mahendragarh and Rohtak constituencies.

Around 44.73 per cent of 1.38 crore voters exercised their franchise till 3 pm in eight Lok Sabha seats of Bihar in the sixth phase of elections, officials said. A polling officer was killed at a booth in a freak incident of firing by a home guard before polling started in the Sheohar Lok Sabha seat.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh rejected Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal’s accusations of the Congress disrupting her poll rallies.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh rejected Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal’s accusations of the Congress disrupting her poll rallies. “The anger of the people who had been victimised for 10 years by the Badals and their cronies are now finding a voice,” Singh said, expressing surprise that Badal, the Shiromani Akali Dal candidate from Bathinda, was facing protests only in some villages and not all over the states.

Meanwhile, PM Narendra Modi came under criticism by Mehbooba Mufti and

Navjot Singh Siddhu was criticised for his anti-women remarks. Himachal Pradesh BJP Women’s Wing president Indu Goswami Sunday sought apology from Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu for his “anti-women” remarks likening Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a new bride. Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, on Sunday, described Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reported remarks about clouds helping the Indian Air Force jets to escape Pakistani radars during Balakot airstrikes as “painfully embarrassing”.

The BJP accused Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers of attacking Ghosh’s convoy and obstructing her entry into a polling booth in Keshpur.

In West Bengal, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Aariz Aftab has sought a report from District Magistrate of Ghatal in West Bengal regarding the attack on BJP Ghatal candidate Bharati Ghosh’s convoy. The BJP accused Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers of attacking Ghosh’s convoy and obstructing her entry into a polling booth in Keshpur. Ghosh has alleged that BJP polling agents were not being allowed to sit at the booth in Keshpur and that she was heckled by women workers of TMC, who tried to prevent her from entering the booth.

The war of words sharpened between Modi and Congress scion Rahul Gandhi. PM Modi has accused Congress leaders of hurling “love-veiled abuses” at him every day. This was in response to Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s remark that while BJP spread hatred, the Congress believed in love. They (Congress leaders) hurl abuses at me every day. They hurl all types of abuses at me. They bring dictionaries of love from all over the world and hurl abuses at me after putting a veil of love on them,” Modi said at a rally in Kushinagar.

BSP chief Mayawati has alleged that PM Narendra Modi is doing “dirty politics” over the gangrape of a Dalit girl in Alwar.

BSP chief Mayawati has alleged that PM Narendra Modi is doing “dirty politics” over the gangrape of a Dalit girl in Alwar. This is after PM Modi asked at a campaign rally in UP why Mayawati wasn’t withdrawing support to the Rajasthan govt over the incident. She also accused him of shedding “crocodile tears” over the incident. “In the wake of this incident (Alwar gangrape), Modi is doing dirty politics. BSP for sure will take required political decision if strict action is not taken in the case,” Mayawati said in a press note issued by her party.

Senior Congress leader and former MP Pramod Tiwari was placed under house arrest on Sunday in Pratapgarh, where polling took place for the Lok Sabha elections.

According to PTI, BJP candidate Pragya Thakur, who is contesting the Lok Sabha election from Bhopal Lok Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh, cast her vote at a polling booth in the state capital on Sunday. Senior Congress leader and former MP Pramod Tiwari was placed under house arrest on Sunday in Pratapgarh, where

polling took place for the Lok Sabha elections.

According to ANI in its tweet, Australia’s Envoy to India, Harinder Sidhu said, “I’m really impressed with EVMs, we don’t have those in Australia. I think even with paper ballots, which we have in Australia, it’s always a case where there’s a risk to integrity in any system. VVPAT is actually a good development.”

With this phase of polling having gone peacefully except for a few incidents of violence, once again in West Bengal, it can be seen that a large number of people have come out and voted once again. The bigger question is: what about the deteriorating trend of the kind of political invective that our leaders have been indulging in in these elections?

Photos from the Internet