Voting for last phase of India’s six week long election concludes

NEW DELHI:  Amid soaring temperatures, voters in India today came out to cast their ballots for the seventh and the last phase of the country’s staggered Lok Sabha elections to decide the fate of 904 candidates, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Voting is being held in all 13 seats of Punjab and four of Himachal Pradesh, 13 constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, nine in West Bengal, eight in Bihar, six in Odisha and three in Jharkhand, besides Chandigarh. Polling for the remaining 42 assembly constituencies in Odisha and by-polls to six assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh are also taking place simultaneously.

The polls on Saturday conclude the largest electoral exercise in the world that kicked off on April 19, with some 969 million people eligible to vote to elect members of the 18th Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament.

A voter turnout of 58.34 percent was recorded till 5 pm in the seventh and final phase of the elections across 57 parliamentary constituencies across eight states and Union Territories today, The Indian Express reported.

At 5 pm, 58.3% voter turnout was recorded across seven states and Chandigarh. Bihar recorded the lowest voter turnout of over 35% while Himachal Pradesh recorded the highest at 48.6%, NDTV news channel said.

The voter turnout for the previous six phases, April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, and May 25, as released by the Election Commission of India, recorded at 66.1, 66.7, 61, 67.3, 60.5, and 63.4 percent, respectively.

After the seven-phase elections draw to a close, all eyes will shift to the exit polls which will start emerging soon after the voting period officially ends till results are declared on June 4.