Elections 2019 Phase 7 Voting LIVE Updates: A voter turnout of 61% was registered at 5 pm on Sunday.
Elections 2019 Phase 7 Voting LIVE Updates: The voter turnout for the final phase of the Lok Sabha elections was recorded at 61 per cent in 59 constituencies across eight states on Sunday with few incidents of violence reported in some areas, the Election Commission told reporters in the national capital. Amid reports of EVM glitches and violence in some parts, the BJP urged the poll panel to deploy the central armed forces in West Bengal till the Model Code of Conduct is underway as it expressed fears that the ruling Trinamool Congress may target a section of voters after polling is over.
For the final lap, the poll watchdog had set up more than 1.12 lakh polling stations and had deployed security personnel for smooth conduct of polls. Meanwhile, bye-elections were also held in Panaji, which was necessitated due to the death of former chief minister Manohar Parrikar, and in four assembly constituencies of Tamil Nadu — Sulur, Aravakurichi, Ottapidaram (SC) and Thiruparankundram.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an election rally. (File)
In Kerala, Congress will bag 13 seats, predicts poll of polls. It has given five seats to the Left and one to the BJP. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Congress had emerged as the single largest party in the state with 8 seats and a vote share of 31.5 per cent. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) had won 5 seats with 21.8 per cent votes.
In Bihar, the Congress' efforts to string together a Mahagathbandhan along with Tejashwi Yadav's RJD seems to have bit the dust, with people of the state once again giving the mandate to the BJP-JD(U) alliance. The India Today-Axis My India exit poll has predicted 38-40 seats for NDA and 0-2 seats for UPA.
In the 2014 elections, BJP had emerged as the single largest party in the state, winning 22 seats with a vote share of 29.9 per cent. Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal was the second-biggest in terms of votes polled, with a share 20.5 per cent, but it was third in terms of seat tally (4).
Here is what News18-IPSOS exit poll predicts in Assam:
NDA: 8 to 10 seats
Asom Gana Parishad: 2
Congress: 2
In the other Northeast states, the NDA is expected to win majority, cornering 17-19 of the seats, with the Congress emerging victorious in four to six constituencies.
Rajasthan (25 seats): NDA - 16, Congress - 3, Others- 6
Maharashtra (48 seats): NDA - 36, Congress+NCP - 11
Jharkhand (14 seats): NDA - 9, Congress+JMM - 5
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, BJP had emerged as the single largest party, winning 23 seats in Maharashtra. In Rajasthan, BJP won all 25 seats with a vote share of 55.6%. In Jharkhand, BJP emerged as the single largest party with 12 seats and vote share of 40.7 per cent.
Meanwhile, Anthro.ai, which calls itself an 'AI Anthropology experiment', has predicted that the BSP + SP + RLD combine will win 54 seats in Uttar Pradesh. "We may be wrong about 8 seats. The BSP will win 27. The SP will win 22. The RLD will win 2. We have a few more weak projections for the BSP than for the SP," their blog said.
West Bengal Exit Poll Results 2019:
News18’s IPSOS - TMC 25-28 | BJP 3-7 | Others- 5-7
India News-Polstrat- TMC 26 | Congress 2 | BJP 14
Republic-Jan Ki Baat- TMC 28 | Congress 2 | BJP 18-26
Republic- CVoter- TMC 29 | Congress 2 | BJP 11
In 2014 Lok Sabha elections, BJP bagged only 2 seats (Asansol and Darjeeling) with 17 per cent vote share.
Here are Republic TV exit poll predictions for West Bengal and Maharashtra:
West Bengal - TMC: 29; NDA: 11
Maharashtra - NDA: 34, UPA: 14
The Election Commission has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 15 lakh each to the next of the kin of three polling officials who died during duty, ANI reported. The deceased officials were Vineet Kumar, Devi Singh and Lot Ram.
Today’s Chanakya prediction for Madhya Pradesh
BJP: 27 seats Congress: 2 seats
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, BJP won 27 of the 29 seats with a vote share of 54.8 per cent, while the Congress, with 35.4 per cent votes, managed to win just two.
Times Now-VMR Exit Poll predicts for Gujarat
NDA: 23 UPA: 3
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party had won all of the state’s 26 seats with a vote share of 60.1 per cent. Congress was the second in terms of vote share at 33.5 per cent.
Here is News18's IPSOS prediction for West Bengal:
TMC: 25 to 28 seats BJP: 3 to 7 seats
In the previous Lok Sabha elections in 2014, the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC had won 34 seats with a vote share of 39.8 per cent. BJP bagged only 2 seats.
All surveys had projected that the BJP would win more than 200 seats, bettering its previous best of 182 seats in 1998 and 1999. In contrast, most polls barring the one by Times Now-ORG had suggested the Congress would slip below the 100 mark. The Times Now-ORG survey, however, had predicted that the Congress would cross 100 seats. The surveys had also suggested that Uttar Pradesh would be the biggest contributor to the BJP’s tally, with all predicting the BJP winning more than 45 seats of the total 80.
The exit polls had also predicted that Mamata Banerjee’s TMC and late Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK would be the only two other political parties with more than 20 seats in the new house.
The surveys had given the NDA between 249 seats (Times Now-ORG) and 340 seats (News24-Chanakya), and between 70 (News24-Chanakya) and 148 seats (Times Now-ORG) to the UPA. Read more here.
In India, exit polls have often proved to be unreliable. There have been several instances when they have predicted the verdict of an election incorrectly. For instance, exit polls on the 2004 Lok Sabha polls wrongly predicted the BJP-led NDA coalition winning again, while in 2009 they underestimated Congress-led UPA’s seat share. In 2014, however, most of the exit polls turned out to be accurate with BJP securing a majority of its own. Read more.
According to Republic-Jan Ki Baat exit poll, the NDA is set to bag 305 seats, while the UPA will manage only 124. The SP-BSP combine, which shed 24 years of animosity to seal a pact, is set to mark victory on 26 seats only. The Times Now exit poll predicts 306 seats for the NDA, 132 for UPA, while 104 seats are likely to be bagged by other parties. The Republic CVoter has precited 287 seats for the NDA, 128 for the UPA, while 40 seats have been predicted for the SP-BSP combine.
Three exit polls have predicted a big win for the NDA. Two exit polls said the BJP-led NDA will win more than 300 seats and return to form its second successive government. Times Now-VMR says NDA will win 306 and UPA 132 seats.
In the 2014 elections, the NDA together won 336 seats. The BJP swept all seats in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, and virtually won all of Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh (71 out of 80) as well as Bihar with allies.
According to India Today-Axis, YSR Congress is expected to win anywhere between 18 to 20 seats in Andhra Pradesh while TDP will be down to 4 to 6 seats. In the 2014 elections, N Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP had bagged 16 and emerged as the single largest party with a vote share of 40.8 per cent. The second-biggest party was the Jaganmohan Reddy-led YSR Congress Party, which won 8 seats with 45.7 per cent votes.
With voting come to an end in a majority of the seats, all eyes are now on the exit polls, which have been announced by most television channels. Get latest updates on Exit Poll Results 2019 India Lok Sabha elections here.
"In the final phase, 7.27 crore voters cast their ballot of which 3.47 crore were women and 3,377 were persons of the third gender," the poll panel tol reporters.
Addressing the media, the Election Commission said, "A voter turnout of 61 per cent was recorded in the seventh phase."
BJP Lok Sabha candidate from Jadavpur, Anupam Hazra, alleged that a special mark was put on the TMC's symbol in the EVM machine to misguide illiterate and semi-illiterate voters and indicate them to press that button. "The presiding officer is trying to fool me, saying he doesn't know anything. I spoke to a few voters who said the presiding officer was whispering to them that they need to press the button which is inked. It is clearly a pre-planned game," he told ANI.
An estimated 42.16 per cent of over 1.52 crore voters exercised their franchise till 3 pm in eight Lok Sabha constituencies of Bihar today. Polling, which began at 7 am, is currently underway at 15,811 booths in the eight seats - Nalanda, Patna Sahib, Pataliputra, Arrah, Buxar, Jehanabad, Sasaram (SC) and Karakat - amid tight security. Altogether 157 candidates, including four Union ministers, are in the fray in the seventh phase of the parliamentary polls.
"The torture that BJP workers and central forces have carried out today since the morning, is unprecedented. I have never seen anything like this before," West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told reporters after casting her vote.
A police car was vandalised in Bhatpara, in Barrackpore, after a clash broke out when rival groups hurled bombs at one another. (Express photo/Shashi Ghosh)
Brisk voting continued in the four Assembly segments in Tamil Nadu today where by-polls are underway, according to the Election Commission, PTI reported. According to the 3 pm voter turnout, statistics made available by the officials, three of the four constituencies recorded in excess of 50 per cent, even as Aravakurichi registered 66 percent polling. Over 50 per cent of the voters had cast their ballots in Sulur (58.16), Thirupparankundram (56.25) and Ottapidaram (SC) (52.17), while Aravakurichi recorded 66.38 per cent. There have been no reports of untoward incidents so far.
Speaking to reporters, Mamata Banerjee said, "I am surprised by the manner in which the BJP has influenced the CRPF personnel."
In Bihar, a police official on polling duty was allegedly attacked for preventing bogus voting at a polling booth in Arrah, ANI reported. The additional district magistrate said, "We received information of stone pelting but there has been no disturbance in voting. Some people might have tried to create trouble, they have been chased out."
After the TMC, the TDP has now written to the Election Commission, alleging a violation of the poll code by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In a letter to the poll watchdog, TDP said, "PM has gone to Badrinath and Kedarnath on an official visit. All the private activities done by him during his pilgrimage are being displayed and continuously telecast, which is a clear violation of the MCC."
In the first six hours of polling on Sunday in four Lok Sabha seats of Himachal Pradesh where five MLAs are among 45 candidates in the fray.
EVM snags delayed voting at nine polling stations. Voting restarted after the faulty EVMs were replaced, news agency PTI reported.
Till 2 pm, voter turnout recorded is 41.42%
State | turnout (in %)
Bihar: 36.20
Himachal Pradesh: 44.02
Madhya Pradesh: 46.03
Punjab: 37.89
Uttar Pradesh: 37.00
West Bengal: 49.79
Jharkhand: 52.89
Chandigarh: 37.50
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said by and large elections have been peaceful in his state. "One incident of a murder was reported from Tarn-Taran. But initial police report says it was a case of personal enmity; Law&Order situation is peaceful. We'll beat both BJP and Akali Dal."
Actor-turned-politician and TMC Asansol candidate Moon Moon Sen castes vote along with daughters Riya (right) and Raima.
BJP camp office near a polling station in Bashirhat vandalised.
TMC candidate Madan Mitra claimed that he was not being given permission along with other TMC polling agents to go inside booth number 106. Clashes broke out between BJP and Trinamool Congress workers in the constituency last night. “There was violence last night. Cars were torched. Few even got injured. I was scared but huge number of central forces are present which gave me the confidence to come out and vote,” said Prasad Shaw, a voter. Read more...
25.29% polling in Punjab till 1 pm.
Bathinda 30.37%
Anandpur Sahib 28.64%
Sangrur 28.29%
Patiala 28.07%
Gurdaspur 26.25%
Voting percentages in West Bengal constituencies till 11 am
Dumdum-34.10%
Barasat-36.94%
Bashirhat-33.96%
Joynagar-29.60%
Mathurapur-34.90%
Diamond Harbour-34.40%
Jadavpur-31.59%
Kolkata Dakshin-27.69%
Kolkata Uttar-25.41%.
Isolated incidents of violence were reported from Basirhat and Kolkata Uttar seats. In Basirhat, bombs were hurled in Minakhan and Deganga areas. Voters alleged that they were prevented from voting at Malancha area of the constituency. In Kolkata Uttar seat, bombs were hurled near Shree Didoo Maheshwari Panchayat Vidyalaya which houses four booths. Locals alleged that some miscreants in motorbikes hurled two bombs to create panic among the voters. A huge contingent of Central Force and Kolkata Police led by DC Central Subhankar Sinha Sarkar rushed to the spot.
BJP MP candidate from Basirhat, Sayantan Basu has alleged that TMC workers are not allowing people to cast their vote.
At a model polling booth BVM school Kitchlu Nagar, Ludhiana, helpers (school staff) provided to push wheelchairs.
Jadavpur BJP MP Anupam Hazra alleges proxy votes being cast by Trinamool workers. As faces are covered, it is difficult to establish their identity, he said.
In Bihar's Chandora village, locals boycott elections at booth number 299 , Rajgir Block of Nalanda District. They say 'No roads, No votes.' EVM and Block Development Officer's car vandalised.
About 15 per cent of votes were polled in the first two hours in seven polling stations in Chandragiri Assembly constituency under Chittoor Lok Sabha segment in Andhra Pradesh, where re-poll is being held Sunday. In all, there are 5,451 voters under these seven polling booths, according to the state Chief Electoral Officer.
On Wednesday, the ECI had ordered repoll in five polling stations, on a petition by YSR Congress candidate Chevireddy Bhaskara Reddy, who alleged that a certain section of voters was not allowed to exercise their franchise. (PTI)
Till 11 am, voter turnout recorded is 25.29%
State | turnout (in %)
Bihar: 18.90
Himachal Pradesh: 25.58
Madhya Pradesh: 29.44
Punjab: 23.36
Uttar Pradesh: 23.16
West Bengal: 32.15
Jharkhand: 30.33
Chandigarh: 22.30
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who was among the early voters in Gorakhpur, said, "People are fighting this election for nation's interest and if someone cannot understand this thing, his IQ is questionable. The entire election revolved around Modiji. With big achievements of his government during the last five years, the BJP will win the election.”
Ram Bhuwal Nishad, the SP-BSP alliance candidate also voted at Daunadih Prathmik Vidyalaya booth number 295 in Gorakhpur at 7.30 AM.
Union minister of state for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla also exercised his franchise in Gorakhpur. He said BJP candidate Ravi Kishan will win with more than 3 lakh votes and the BJP will form government at the Centre. (PTI)