Voting concludes for 18th LS polls; nearly 60% turnout in final phase

'Deeply humbled' by voters who turned up at polling stations: EC

The marathon polling process to elect the 18th Lok Sabha ended Saturday with the seventh phase of elections witnessing an approximate voter turnout of nearly 60 per cent.

Polling was conducted in seven states and the Union Territory of Chandigarh for 57 constituencies, including Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a third consecutive term in the Lok Sabha.

All eyes are now on June 4, when counting of votes will be held. In Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, the counting for the Assembly polls will be taken up on June 2.

Voting for the last phase was held amid a severe heatwave in all 13 seats of Punjab and four of Himachal Pradesh, 13 constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, nine in West Bengal, eight in Bihar, six in Odisha and three in Jharkhand, besides Chandigarh. Polling for the remaining 42 assembly constituencies in Odisha and bypolls to six assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh also took place simultaneously.

Saturday's voting marked the end of the seven-phase polling that began on April 19. The Assemblies of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim also went to polls.

The BJP-led NDA is seeking a rare consecutive third term in office. The Opposition INDIA bloc is trying to upset the NDA applecart by putting up a joint fight in some states.

According to the EC's voter-turnout app at 9.45 pm, the estimated polling percentage in the last phase was 59.86.

A voter turnout of nearly 69.96 per cent was recorded in Jharkhand. Uttar Pradesh logged a polling percentage of 55.60, West Bengal 69.89, Bihar 51.27 and Himachal Pradesh 68.40.

Punjab recorded a voter turnout of 55.98 per cent while Chandigarh registered a voting percentage of 67.90. Odisha recorded around 65.68 per cent voting.