Delhi, Haryana vote today in penultimate phase of Lok Sabha elections

Delhi and Haryana are voting in a single phase. For the seventh and last phase, 57 seats will be left.

Besides them, Bihar, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal will continue with their polls in this phase.

Polling for 42 Assembly Constituencies for the Odisha State Legislative Assembly will also take place simultaneously.

Concerned CEOs and state machinery have been directed to take adequate measures to manage the adverse impact of hot weather or rainfall wherever predicted.

Image courtesy: PIB

Polling stations are ready to welcome the voters with ample shade, drinking water, ramps, toilets, and other basic facilities to ensure that polling takes place in a comfortable and secure environment, an official statament from the Election Commission said.

The most riveting contest will be for the national capital Delhi, where the BJP swept all seven seats in 2019. This time, Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party is leaving no stone unturned with its "Jail Ka Jawab Vote Se" campaign. AAP is contesting four seats in the national capital, its ally Congress three.

This phase will be crucial for NDA, which has to keep its score intact to meet its "400-plus" target. In 2019, the BJP alone won 40 of the 58 constituencies going to polls in this phase in the Hindi heartland and the east. Its NDA allies won five more seats.

The parties of the Opposition INDIA bloc -- Trinamool Congress, National Conference and Samajwadi Party – had won five seats, the Congress none.

The last phase i.e. seventh phase of polling will be held on June 1 with counting of votes scheduled on June 4. Polling for 25 States/UTs and 428 constituencies was completed in the first five phases of the general elections.