LS polls: Over 51 per cent polling recorded till 5 pm, WB leads tally

New Delhi (India), May 12 (ANI): Over 51 per cent of the voters cast their ballot till 5 pm on Sunday in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha polls covering 59 constituencies across seven states with West Bengal topping the chart.
According to the Election Commission of India, West Bengal witnessed 70.53 per cent voting, while Jharkhand recorded second-highest voter turnout at 58.32 per cent till 5 pm.
The estimated turnout in Haryana was 54 per cent, 53.83 per cent in Madhya Pradesh, 45.36 per cent in Delhi, 44.4 per cent in Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh stands at 43.26 per cent polling. The average voter turnout stood at 51.31 per cent.
Several incidents of violence were reported from West Bengal.
Of the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, voting percentage was highest at North West Delhi (47.83 per cent), North East Delhi (47.36 per cent), followed by East Delhi (46.7 per cent), Chandni Chowk (45.64 per cent), West Delhi (44.33 per cent), New Delhi (43.52 per cent), and South Delhi (43.25 per cent).
In Delhi, Congress leaders Sheila Dikshit and Ajay Maken, BJP's Gautam Gambhir, and Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli were among the early voters. As polling progressed, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and her sister Priyanka Gandhi, along with her husband Robert Vadra, cast their ballot.
Elections are being held in the sixth phase for 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, all ten in Haryana, eight seats each in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal and four in Jharkhand, in addition to seven seats in Delhi. Over 10.17 crore voters are expected to cast their ballot. There are 979 candidates in the fray in this phase.
Prominent among those contesting are former chief ministers Akhilesh Yadav (from Azamgarh in UP), Union Minister Maneka Gandhi (Sultanpur in UP) Digvijaya Singh (Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh), Bhupinder Singh Hooda (Sonepat in Haryana), and Sheila Dikshit (North-East Delhi).
Former Union Minister and RJD veteran Raghuvansh Prasad Singh are in the fray from Vaishali in Bihar, while Congress general secretary Jyotiraditya Scindia is contesting from Guna in Madhya Pradesh.
Re-polling is being conducted at booth number 116 in West Bengal's Barrackpore parliamentary constituency and booth number 110 in Arambag Lok Sabha seat, along with one polling station each in Puducherry and Tripura.
Polling began at 7 am across the seven states and will continue till 6 pm.
The seventh and last phase of the Lok Sabha election will take place on May 19 and counting of votes will be held on May 23. (ANI)