President Droupadi Murmu, foreign minister Jaishankar cast vote in sixth phase of LS polls; huge voter turnout in Bengal

NEW DELHI: Polling for the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections is ongoing in the country on Saturday. Elections are being held in 58 constituencies in seven states and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. All the seats in Delhi and Haryana will be polled in a single phase. A total of 889 candidates are seeking the mandate. With the end of this phase, polling in 489 constituencies will be completed.

Indian President Droupadi Murmu, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, cricketer Gautam Gambhir, Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have already cast their votes. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and BJD leader VK Pandian cast their votes at various polling booths in Bhubaneswar. Naveen Patnaik kept high hopes about BJD achieving success in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections and forming a stable government.

A total of 10.82 per cent voting was recorded till 9 am. Delhi recorded 8.94 per cent polling and West Bengal 16.54 per cent polling. It is estimated that there are more than 11 crore voters in 58 constituencies. Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan, Rao Inderjit Singh, BJP leader Maneka Gandhi, Sambit Patra, Manohar Khattar, Manoj Tiwari, Mehbooba Mufti and Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar are the prominent candidates seeking vote in this phase.

Polling is going on in the sixth phase for ten seats in Haryana. Former Chief Minister and BJP leader Manohar Lal Khattar is contesting in Karnal. Rao Inderjit Singh is contesting from the Gurugram constituency and Naveen Jindal is contesting from the Kurukshetra constituency.