Lok Sabha Election LIVE: Average voter turnout 40.09% at 1 pm, Himachal Pradesh highest of all

BSP candidate for Ferozepur Lok Sabha seat Surinder Kamboj has been booked for allegedly getting his video recorded while casting his vote and making it public, officials said on Saturday.

Kamboj was filmed by an unidentified person while casting his vote at a polling station in Guruharsahai's Jiva Rai village.

Ferozepur Deputy Commissioner Rajesh Dhiman said Kamboj made the video public.

A case has been registered against Kamboj and an unidentified person under relevant sections of the Representation of People's Act, 1951 and the Indian Penal Code.

Kamboj is the father of AAP MLA from Jalalabad Jagdeep Singh Goldy Kamboj.

Polling for 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab is underway on Saturday.

The CPI(M) accused ruling Trinamool Congress workers of intimidating its polling agents and other electoral malpractices in different constituencies during the seventh phase of Lok Sabha elections being held in nine seats in West Bengal on Saturday.

CPI(M) candidates in Jadavpur, Diamond Harbour, Kolkata Dakshin, Dum Dum and Mathurapur alleged that polling agents of the party were facing intimidation and were forced out of the polling booths in some places.

The party alleged that despite the deployment of local police and central forces, incidents of threats and assault were taking place.

CPI(M)'s Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha seat candidate Pratikur Rahaman alleged that the party's workers and supporters were being intimidated in different places, including Diamond Harbour, Falta and parts of Budge Budge assembly segments.

"I had to shift one of our party workers to hospital after he was badly beaten up for protesting black taping the names of opposition candidates on EVMs," Rahaman said, pointing fingers at TMC supporters.

1) Top leaders of the INDIA bloc will meet on Saturday to discuss their strategy for the counting of votes on June 4, even as the TMC and PDP are set to skip the meeting.

2) Senior leaders of the Congress, CPI-M, CPI, DMK, AAP, RJD, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (Sharad Pawar) will hold discussions at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's residence this afternoon.

3) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann are likely to attend the meeting, besides senior Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and K C Venugopal.

4) The meeting is only for discussing the counting preparations and the Congress has already told its state units to be alert about Form 17C, news agency PTI reported.

5) People's Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti said she was likely to skip the meeting due to personal reasons. "I may not go as my mom has undergone an eye surgery," she told PTI. National Conference president Farooq Abdullah will attend the meet as he left Srinagar on Saturday morning.

 People's Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti said Saturday she is likely to skip the opposition INDIA bloc meeting to be held in New Delhi later in the day due to personal reasons.

"I may not go as my mom has undergone an eye surgery," she told PTI.

Top leaders of the opposition grouping will be meeting in the national capital in the afternoon to assess their performance in the Lok Sabha election and chalk out their strategy ahead of the results.

Both the National Conference (NC) and PDP were invited to the INDIA bloc meeting. NC president Farooq Abdullah left for New Delhi from Srinagar on Saturday morning.

Uttar Pradesh recorded a polling percentage of 28.02 till 11 am as voting for the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha election began at 7 am on Saturday, the Election Commission (EC) said.

Polling is being held in 13 constituencies of the state, including Varanasi, from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a third consecutive term in the Lok Sabha.

Besides Varanasi, the other seats where polling is taking place are Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria, Bansgaon (reserved for Scheduled Castes), Ghosi, Salempur, Ballia, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Mirzapur and Robertsganj (reserved for SCs).

A total of 144 candidates -- 134 men and 10 women -- are in the fray.

According to the EC, the polling percentage till 11 am is -- Ballia 27.81, Bansgaon 28.3, Chandauli 29.08, Deoria 28.1, Ghazipur 27.55, Ghosi 27.67, Gorakhpur 26.64, Kushinagar 28.06, Maharajganj 29.66, Mirzapur 29.54, Robertsganj 28.09, Salempur 27.94 and Varanasi 26.13.

Sporadic incidents of violence marred the seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha polls in the nine parliamentary constituencies, as TMC and BJP workers clashed in various parts of violence-prone Jadavpur, Diamond Harbour constituencies.

Although the poll panel has claimed that the polling has been peaceful so far, it said it has received 1,450 complaints until 11 am from different political parties alleging EVM malfunctions and agents being stopped from entering booths.

Around 28.10 per cent of over 1.63 crore voters exercised their franchise in the first two hours of polling to nine Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal on Saturday, an Election Commission official said.

Clashes broke out between supporters of the TMC, ISF and the BJP in Jadavpur constituency as both parties clashed over stopping polling agents from entering the booths.

A confrontation erupted in Bhangar within the Jadavpur constituency between backers of Trinamool Congress and the Indian Secular Front (ISF), with allegations of crude bombs being hurled from both sides.

Police intervention ensued, triggering protests as both factions accused each other.

To quell the situation, security personnel resorted to a lathi charge to disperse the mob, recovering several crude bombs.

Angry voters of Kultuli within Joynagar constituency took drastic measures by hurling electronic voting machines (EVMs) and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VV-PAT) machines into nearby waterbodies. Their actions were fueled by feelings of electoral misconduct, reflecting their frustration over perceived voting restrictions.

The incident in Ward 127 where BJP candidate Ashok Kandari levelled accusations against opposition representatives, alleging their interference with the poll proceedings.

Trinamool Congress supporters have accused the ISF of orchestrating the violence to intimidate voters. Prompt action from local law enforcement led to lathi charges and the arrest of suspects in the Polerhat area of Bhangar. 

"I want to appeal to the people of Himachal to participate in the festival of democracy. In the last 14 months, attempts were made to topple our govt and BJP tried to form its govt using the power of money. Our govt will stay in power for at least the next 3.5 years. The people of the state are contesting elections this time and there is no competition between them (Kangana Ranaut and Vikramaditya Singh)," Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said.

Around 10.58% of over 1.62 crore voters exercised their franchise in eight Lok Sabha seats in Bihar till 9 am in the last phase of elections on Saturday, officials said.

Voting began at 7 am in Patna Sahib, Patliputra, Arrah, Karakat, Jehanabad, Buxar, Nalanda and Jehanabad Lok Sabha seats and will continue till 6 pm.

Patliputra recorded the highest turnout at 12.39%, followed by Jehanabad (12.21), Karakat (11.75), Sasaram (11.18), Patna Sahib (10.76), Arrah (9.32) Nalanda (9.17) and Buxar (8.32) till 9 am.

Voting is also underway for by-election to Agiaon assembly segment in Arrah Lok Sabha seat. A total of 8.50% turnout was recorded in the by-election till 9 am.

A voter turnout of 9.64% was witnessed in the first two hours of polling in the 13 Lok Sabha constituencies of Punjab on Saturday.

In the lone seat of Chandigarh, the voter turnout was recorded at 11.64%.

Amid tight security arrangements, polling began at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm, officials said.

Among the 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in Punjab, Ferozepur recorded a turnout of 11.61 per cent, followed by Sangrur with 11.36%.

The voter turnout in Amritsar was 7.22%, Anandpur Sahib 9.53%, Bathinda 9.74%, Faridkot 9.83%, Fatehgarh Sahib 8.27%, Gurdaspur 8.81%, Hoshiarpur 9.66%, Jalandhar 9.34%, Khadoor Sahib 9.71%, Ludhiana 9.08% and Patiala 10.98%, as per Election Commission data.

Voters, including elders, women and youngsters, queued up early morning at several polling stations to exercise their franchise.

Nearly 12.15% voter turnout was recorded till 9 am in three Lok Sabha constituencies in Jharkhand where voting is underway in the seventh phase on Saturday, officials said.

Polling began at 7 am in Dumka, Rajmahal, and Godda, and will continue till 5 pm.

Rajmahal seat registered the highest polling at 12.82%, followed by Dumka (12.31) and Godda (11.46).

A total of 52 candidates, including eight women, are contesting in the final phase, the state's fourth and the seventh nationwide. Nineteen candidates each are competing in Dumka and Godda, while 14 are contesting in Rajmahal.

Around 53.23 lakh electors are eligible to cast their votes in the three constituencies, with Godda having the highest number of voters at 20.28 lakh, and Dumka the lowest at 15.91 lakh. Over two lakh people are first-time voters in the 18-19 age group, while 439 are aged over 100 years.

Here is CEO, West Bengal's statement:

"Today morning at 6.40 am Reserve EVMs & papers of Sector Officer near Benimadhavpur FP school, at 129-Kultali AC of 19-Jaynagar (SC) PC has been looted by local mob and 1 CU, 1 BU , 2VVPAT machines have been thrown inside a pond."

"Sector Police was a little behind. FIR has been lodged by Sector Officer and necessary action has been initiated. Poll process in all six booths under the Sector is running uninterrupted. Fresh EVM and papers have been provided to the Sector Officer."

"We are getting silent votes and those who were with other parties like BSP, Apna Dal are coming with us. That is why it seems that the public is in the mood for change. The businessmen, weavers in the city are unhappy. All the businesses were ruined due to GST. He (PM Modi) should have sat on the banks of Ganga ji and done meditation here," Ajay Rai said.

"Today is the final phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. As 57 seats across 8 states and UTs go to the polls, calling upon the voters to turnout in large numbers and vote. I hope young and women voters exercise their franchise in record numbers. Together, let’s make our democracy more vibrant and participative."

"We tried to reach every area of ​​the city and we organised our programmes in many areas but still I feel that there must be many people whom I could not reach. I appeal to everyone to vote for the betterment of Chandigarh, vote for the democracy of the country, vote to take the country forward, vote to make Narendra Modi the Prime Minister again. And I assure you that the work that has not been done in the last 50 years, I will get it done in 5 years," Sanjay Tandon said.

As many as 904 candidates, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, are in fray in the final phase of Lok Sabha elections to be held on Saturday.

A total of 57 seats spread across seven states - Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Punjab - and the Union territory of Chandigarh will go to polls.

Saturday's phase will conclude the polling to elect the 18th Lok Sabha which started on April 19. Polling for 28 states and Union territories across 486 seats has so far been concluded. Counting of votes will take place on June 4.

Over 10.06 crore citizens, including nearly 5.24 crore men, 4.82 crore women and 3574 third gender electors are eligible to vote in the last phase.