Next Phase to be a Clincher

POLLS\\ The Indian Geneal Elections 2014 began with brickbats as the Congress alleged that the BJP had violated law by bringing out its manifesto on the day when polling for Lok Sabha was already underway. The Congress asked the Election Commission to take action against the party. “The release of manifesto was completely in violation of the provisions of the Representation of the People Act and the instructions issued by the Election Commission,” the Congress memorandum said. The Congress also complained that the BJP manifesto had referred to the issue of construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya—against India’s secular structure. The Congress, too, released its manifesto on March 26, 2014. The schedule for the Lok Sabha elections was announced on March 5, 2014.

The sixth phase of the Lok Sabha Polls began peacefully enough except incidents of sporadic violence in Assam’s Kokrakhar district—even as voters trooped into polling booths across 11 states and a Union Territory, stacking up high percentages in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections.

Bengal led the numbers with more than 63% polling by 1 pm. Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra, had a slow start but picked up pace in early afternoon, registering 26% turnout till 1pm in the six constituencies.

Around 12% of Maharashtra’s total voters are from the city. Bihar has recorded nearly 42.35% voting by 1 pm.

This second-largest phase will determine the fate of 2,076 candidates including Union Ministers and sitting MPs.

In Rajasthan, the voting percentage stood at 41% till 1 pm in five seats where polling is being held. Madhya Pradesh saw a voter turnout of 43.71% till 2:30 pm across the 10 Lok Sabha seats. In Uttar Pradesh—where polling was underway in 12 constituencies—36.62% of the voters had cast their votes till 1 pm.

In Tamil Nadu, about 47.19% of an estimated 5.50 crore voters exercised their franchise in 39 Lok Sabha constituencies and the lone seat in Puducherry till 1 pm. In Assam, 50% voting was recorded till 1 pm during the third and final phase of polling in six Lok Sabha seats.

In this round of polling, the stakes are very high for the Congress but more so for the BJP which is tipped to form the next government under the leadership of its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.

Tamil Nadu saw voting for all its 39 seats in one go. Chief minister and AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa is aiming for a clean sweep, including the Puducherry seat. This round will also have a bearing on the prime ministerial ambitions of Jayalalithaa and Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, who is in the fray from bastion Mainpuri. In Uttar Pradesh, it is a showcase of heavyweights with Mulayam, his daughterin- law Dimple Yadav, external affairs minister Salman Khurshid, Amar Singh and Hema Malini in the fray.