Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Voting for Phase 7 concludes; violence reported in Bengal
Lok Sabha Elections 2024: The Lok Sabha Election 2024 concludes on Saturday with the end of Phase 7 voting.
The final phase of polling began on Saturday at 7 a.m. in 57 parliamentary constituencies spread across seven states and the Union Territory of Chandigarh. The Election Commission (ECI) reported that voter turnout in the seventh and final phase of polling for Lok Sabha elections across seven states and the Union territory of Chandigarh was 58.3 percent as of 5 p.m.
Violence and escalating tensions across various regions marked polling for nine Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal during the seventh phase on Saturday. The polling, conducted under stringent security measures, saw significant disturbances in multiple areas, notably in Bhangar, Kultali, and Sandeshkhali, impacting the overall electoral process.
In the Satuliya area of Bhangar within the Jadavpur constituency near Kolkata, violent clashes erupted between supporters of the Indian Secular Front (ISF) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI(M). The confrontation led to several ISF members sustaining injuries, exacerbated by the use of country-made bombs.
In Kultali, located in South 24 Parganas district, an angry mob stormed polling stations, seizing an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) and throwing it into a nearby pond. This act of vandalism occurred following allegations that some polling agents were barred from entering the booths. In retaliation, local residents seized the EVM equipped with the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) and discarded it.
On Saturday, all 13 of Punjab's parliamentary constituencies voted in the final phase. Six assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh also went to the polls today.
Polling for the first six phases of the Lok Sabha elections was held on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, and May 25. Assembly elections were also held in Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh.
- PTC NEWS
