Voting for the penultimate phase of the Lok Sabha elections is underway across six states and two Union Territories, with over 11 crore voters deciding the fate of 889 candidates contesting 58 seats. Among the prominent candidates are Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Rao Inderjit Singh, BJP's Maneka Gandhi, Sambit Patra, Manohar Khattar, and Manoj Tiwari, and Congress's Kanhaiya Kumar. The final phase of voting will occur on June 1, with results announced on June 4.
Polling is taking place in Haryana (10 seats), Bihar (8), Jharkhand (4), Odisha (6), Uttar Pradesh (14), West Bengal (8), Delhi (7), and Jammu and Kashmir (1). Odisha is also voting for 42 Assembly constituencies simultaneously.
Early voters in Delhi included President Droupadi Murmu, cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir, and BJP leader Bansuri Swaraj. BJP's Puri candidate Sambit Patra reported malfunctioning EVMs, causing delays and inconvenience to voters.
Key races include BJP's Manoj Tiwari vs. Congress's Kanhaiya Kumar in Delhi, and BJP leader Manohar Lal Khattar contesting in Karnal, Haryana. In West Bengal's Jangalmahal region, a significant battleground with tribal influence, notable candidates include Soumendu Adhikari from Kanthi and former judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay in Tamluk.
In Jammu and Kashmir, voting is ongoing in the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency, postponed earlier due to weather.
In the 2019 elections, BJP won 40 of these 58 seats, with NDA allies taking five more. The NDA secured a 51.36% vote share, while the opposition INDIA bloc managed 28.66%. By the end of this phase, 486 of 543 Lok Sabha seats will have voted, with the remaining 57 to follow in the final phase.
