Manohar Lal Khattar, Maneka Gandhi, Mehbooba Mufti’s fate to be sealed today

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 24

Voting is scheduled to take place for 58 seats in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections tomorrow. Among these seats, 31 are for general category candidates, six for SCs and five for STs.

The polling will take place in eight states and union territories — Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Jammu and Kashmir. Polling for 42 Assembly constituencies in Odisha will also take place simultaneously.

Of these 58 seats, the BJP had won 36 in 2019, while its allies — the JDU, the LJP and the All Jharkhand Students Union — had won eight in Bihar and Jharkhand, taking the NDA’s tally to 44. The Congress could not win any of these seats.

Voting for 58 seats in PhASE-6

Total voters: 11.13 crORE

Male: 5.84 cr

Female: 5.29 cr

Polling in the sixth phase is scheduled to be held for seven seats in Delhi, 10 seats in Haryana, eight seats each in Bihar and West Bengal, four seats in Jharkhand, 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh and six seats in Odisha. Voting will also be held for the Anantnag seat in Jammu and Kashmir.

Of the over 11.13 voters who are eligible to exercise their franchise in the sixth phase, 5.84 crore are male, 5.29 crore female and 5,120 third gender voters. There are over 8.93 lakh registered voters above the age of 85, 23,659 above the age of 100 and 9.58 lakh voters with disabilities, who have been provided the option to vote from home.

A total of 184 observers — 66 general observers, 35 police observers and 83 expenditure observers — have reached their constituencies ahead of the polling. A total of 2,222 flying squads, 2,295 static surveillance teams, 819 video surveillance teams and 569 video viewing teams are keeping a round-the-clock vigil to deal with any form of voter inducement.

Besides, 257 international border check-posts and 927 inter-state border check-posts are keeping a strict watch on any illicit flow of liquor, drugs, cash and freebies.

Tomorrow’s polling will see some high-profile contestants in key battles. Among them are former Union Minister and BJP leader Maneka Gandhi, who is contesting from Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh, ex-Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar, who is contesting his first Lok Sabha election from Karnal, Congress leader Deepender Hooda from Rohtak, former J&K Chief Minister and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti from Anantnag and Cabinet Minister and BJP leader Rao Inderjit Singh from Gurgaon, against whom the Congress has pitted actor Raj Babbar.

Delhi will see Congress leader and former president of the JNU Students’ Union Kanhaiya Kumar locking horns with sitting North East Delhi MP and BJP leader Manoj Tiwari.

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#Lok Sabha #Manohar Lal Khattar #Mehbooba Mufti