Lok Sabha polls: Stage set for sixth phase

The penultimate round of the mammoth Lok Sabha battle will witness polling on 58 seats across six states and two union territories on Saturday. The Election Commission has made all arrangements to ensure smooth and peaceful voting.

The sixth phase of Lok Sabha polls includes eight seats in Bihar, all 10 seats in Haryana, one seat in Jammu and Kashmir, four in Jharkhand, all seven seats in Delhi, six in Odisha, 14 in Uttar Pradesh, and eight in West Bengal. A total of 889 candidates are in the fray.

Forty-two assembly constituencies in Odisha are also going to the polls in this phase, as assembly elections are being held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections in the state. All parliamentary seats in Delhi and Haryana will vote in this phase. Prominent candidates include two former Chief Ministers – Manohar Lal Khattar and Mehbooba Mufti. Khattar is contesting as the BJP candidate from Karnal and Mehbooba Mufti as the PDP nominee from Anantnag-Rajouri.

Other notable candidates include Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, and former Union Minister Maneka Gandhi. Bansuri Swaraj, Somnath Bharti, Manoj Tiwari, Kanhaiya Kumar, Dinesh Lal Yadav alias ‘Nirahua’, Dharmendra Yadav, Abhijit Gangopadhyay, Agnimitra Paul, Naveen Jindal, Raj Babbar, Deepender Singh Hooda, Kumari Selja, and Aparajita Sarangi are among other prominent candidates in the fray.

Key seats in this phase include New Delhi, North-East Delhi, North-West Delhi, and Chandni Chowk in the national capital, as well as Sultanpur and Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh. Other key seats are Anantnag-Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir, Tamluk and Medinipur in West Bengal, Karnal and Kurukshetra in Haryana, and Bhubaneshwar, Puri, and Sambalpur in Odisha.

The riveting contest in Delhi has AAP and Congress jointly taking on the BJP, which won all seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital in the last two elections. While Congress is contesting on three seats, AAP is contesting on four. Both parties are part of the INDIA bloc.

The BJP campaign has been bolstered by rallies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and other party leaders. Senior leaders of Congress have also held rallies in the national capital. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, released on interim bail by the Supreme Court in the Delhi excise policy case, also sought votes for AAP and Congress candidates.

AAP and Congress have joined hands in Haryana, where BJP won all the seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Some seats in Haryana, including Hisar, are witnessing multi-cornered contests. Apart from BJP and Congress, the electoral stakes are high for INLD and Jannayak Janata Party in Haryana. The state will also go for assembly polls months after the Lok Sabha election.

Odisha is seeing key battles in Sambalpur, Bhubaneshwar, and Puri. The Election Commission has directed concerned CEOs and state officials to take measures to manage the adverse impact of hot weather or rainfall where predicted. Polling stations will have ample shade, drinking water, ramps, toilets, and other basic facilities to ensure a comfortable and secure environment for voting.

The Election Commission appealed to voters to turn out in large numbers and vote with responsibility and pride, especially reminding voters in urban centers like Delhi, Gurgaon, and Faridabad about their right and duty to vote and break the trend of urban apathy.

Polling has already been completed in 428 parliamentary constituencies across 25 states and UTs in the first five phases of general elections. Over 11.13 crore voters, including 5.84 crore males, 5.29 crore females, and 5120 third-gender electors, are eligible to vote in the sixth phase. Around 11.4 lakh polling officials will conduct this phase of the election.

Over 8.93 lakh registered voters over 85 years old, 23,659 voters above 100 years, and 9.58 lakh PwD voters have been provided the option to vote from home in this phase. The Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency in Jammu and Kashmir will also vote tomorrow. The poll date was revised from May 7 to May 25 after representations for shifting the date.

The Lok Sabha elections will conclude on June 1 after the seventh phase, in which voters from 57 constituencies will exercise their franchise. The results will be declared on June 4.

A look at key constituencies in the sixth phase of Lok Sabha polls:

Delhi: All seven constituencies will vote in this phase. BJP won all seven seats in 2014 and 2019.

1. Chandni Chowk: BJP has replaced sitting MP Harsh Vardhan with debutant Praveen Khandelwal to face Congress’ JP Agarwal, a veteran of Lok Sabha battles.
2. East Delhi: Harsh Deep Malhotra of the BJP is pitted against AAP’s Kuldeep Kumar, known as Monu.
3. New Delhi: Bansuri Swaraj, daughter of late Union Minister Sushma Swaraj, is facing AAP’s Somnath Bharti.
4. North East Delhi: BJP’s sitting MP Manoj Tiwari is pitted against Congress’ Kanhaiya Kumar, a former JNU student leader.
5. North West Delhi: Former BJP MP Udit Raj seeks to make a comeback from this reserved constituency.
6. South Delhi: BJP’s Ramvir Singh Bidhuri faces AAP’s Sahi Ram Pehalwan.
7. West Delhi: Kamaljeet Sehrawat from BJP faces AAP’s Mahabal Mishra.

Bihar: Eight constituencies will poll in this phase.

1. Valmiki Nagar: JD(U)’s Onil Kumar faces RJD’s Deepak Yadav.
2. Paschim Champaran: BJP’s Sanjay Jaiswal faces Madan Mohan Tiwari of Congress.
3. Purvi Champaran: BJP’s Radha Mohan Singh faces Rajesh Kushwaha of Vikassheel Insaan Party.
4. Sheohar: Lovely Anand of JD(U) faces Ritu Jaiswal of RJD.
5. Vaishali: Sitting MP Veena Devi of LJP (Ram Vilas) faces Vijay Kumar Shukla of RJD.
6. Gopalganj: Sitting JD(U) MP Alok Kumar Suman faces Prem Nath Chanchal of Vikassheel Insaan Party.
7. Siwan: RJD’s Awadh Bihari Chaudhary faces JD(U)’s Vijay Lakshmi Devi.
8. Maharajganj: BJP’s Janardan Singh ‘Sigriwal’ faces Congress’ Akash Kumar Singh.

Haryana: The state has multi-cornered contests on some of its 10 seats.

1. Ambala: BJP’s Banto Devi Kataria faces Varun Chaudhary of Congress.
2. Kurukshetra: A three-cornered contest between BJP’s Naveen Jindal, AAP’s Sushil Gupta, and INLD’s Abhay Chautala.
3. Sirsa: Former Union Minister Kumari Selja of Congress faces BJP’s Ashok Tanwar.
4. Hisar: Ranjit Singh of BJP faces INLD’s Sunaina Chautala, JJP’s Naina Chautala, and Congress’ Jai Prakash.
5. Karnal: Former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar faces Congress’ Divyanshu Budhiraja.
6. Sonipat: BJP’s Mohan Lal Badoli faces Congress’ Satpal Brahmachari.
7. Rohtak: Incumbent BJP MP Arvind Sharma faces Congress’ Deepinder Singh Hooda and JJP’s Ravinder.
8. Bhiwani-Mahendragarh: BJP’s Dharambir Singh faces Congress’ Rao Dhan Singh and JJP’s Bahadhur Singh.
9. Gurgaon: Union Minister MP Rao Inderjit of BJP faces actor-turned-politician Raj Babbar.
10. Faridabad: Union Minister Krishan Pal Gujjar faces Congress veteran Mahendra Pratap Singh.

Jharkhand: Four constituencies will poll in this phase.

1. Giridih: AJSU’s Chandra Prakash Chaudhary faces JMM’s Mathura Mahato and student union leader Jairam Mahato.
2. Dhanbad: BJP’s Dulu Mahato faces Congress’ Anupama Singh.
3. Ranchi: Congress’ Yashaswini Sahay faces BJP’s sitting MP Sanjay Seth.
4. Jamshedpur: BJP’s Bidyut Baran Mahato faces JMM’s Samir Mohanty.

Odisha: Six constituencies will poll in this phase.

1. Sambalpur: Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan faces Congress’ Nagendra Kumar Pradhan.
2. Keonjhar: BJP’s Ananta Nayak faces Congress’ Binod Bihari Nayak.
3. Bhubaneswar: BJP’s Aparjita Sarangi faces Congress’ Syed Yashir Nawaz.
4. Dhenkanal: BJP’s Rudra Narayan Pany faces Congress’ Sushmita Behra.
5. Puri: BJP’s Sambit Patra faces BJD’s Arup