Elections 2019: Voting begins for penultimate phase Lok Sabha polls

New Delhi Polling began on Sunday morning for 59 Lok Sabha seats in the sixth and penultimate phase of Lok Sabha polls with Union ministers Radha Mohan Singh Maneka Gandhi Harsh Vardhan SP chief Akhilesh Yadav Jyotiraditya Scindia and Congress leaders Digvijay Singh among several prominent faces in the fray Elections are being held in 10 seats in Haryana 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh eights constituencies each in Bihar seven seats in Delhi Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal and four in JharkhandWest Bengal Two BJP workers Ananta Guchait amp Ranjit Maity shot at last night in Bhagabanpur East Medinipur Both the injured admitted to hospital More details awaitedmdash ANI ANI May 12 2019Over 1017 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 979 candidates The Election Commission has set up over 113 lakh polling stations for smooth conduct of the polls The elections in this phase are seen as a big test for the BJP which had won 45 of these seats in 2014 with the Trinamool Congress bagging 8 the Congress two and the Samajwadi Party and the LJP one seat each among others Prominent candidates in the fray in Delhi include veteran Congress leader Sheila Dikshit Olympian boxer Vijender Singh Union minister Harsh Vardhan Atishi from AAP and her BJP rival cricketerturnedpolitician Gautam Gambhir The Bhopal seat in Madhya Pradesh is witnessing an interesting contest between senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh and BJP nominee Pragya Singh ThakurDelhi People queue up to vote at polling booth number 124 in Civil LinesChandni Chowk constituency LokSabhaElections2019 pictwittercom3bJAf2k8xGmdash ANI ANI May 12 2019Madhya Pradesh BJP Bhopal candidate Pragya Singh Thakur after casting her vote Digvijaya Singh is the Congress candidate from the constituency LokSabhaElections2019 pictwittercomd0Rc2RgwKOmdash ANI ANI May 12 2019Guna will seal the fate of Congress general secretary Scindia Union minister and BJP nominee Narendra Singh Tomar is in the fray from MorenaIn Uttar Pradesh the BJP is up against the SPBSPRLD coalition and the Congress The BJP had won 13 of the 14 constituencies in 2014 the only exception being Azamgarh won then by SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav However the BJP had to face defeat in the bypolls in Phulpur and Gorakhpur constituencies last year While the antiBJP alliance would like to retain its grip over both the seats the saffron party is looking to wrest them from the opposition Their importance can be gauged from the fact that Gorakhpur was represented by Yogi Adityanath in Lok Sabha from 1998 to 2017 before he became the chief minister of Uttar PradeshBJP Candidate from East Delhi Gautam Gambhir casts his vote at a polling booth in Old Rajinder Nagar He is up against AAPs Atishi and Congresss Arvinder Singh Lovely pictwittercomuzQZdH7qzNmdash ANI ANI May 12 2019Similarly Phulpur was won for the first time by the BJP in 2014 when Keshav Prasad Maurya emerged victorious from the seat once represented by Jawaharlal Nehru Indias first prime minister Maurya vacated the seat after he became the deputy chief minister of the state in 2017 In Azamgarh this time Akhilesh is trying to retain his fathers seat against Bhojpuri film star Dinesh Lal Yadav Nirahua of the BJP Sultanpur too is seeing an interesting contest as the BJP has fielded Union minister Maneka Gandhi for the seat won by her son Varun in 2014 The ruling Trinamool Congress the BJP the Congress and the Left Front constituents the CPIM the CPI and the AIFB are the main contenders in West Bengal In this phase polling is being held in Jangal Mahal the forested region of Bankura West Midnapore Jhargram and Purulia districts which used to be a Maoist hotbed during the erstwhile Left Front governmentHaryana Visuals from polling booth number 152 in Prem Nagar in Karnal constituency LokSabhaElections2019 pictwittercomCvGL5YKjw1mdash ANI ANI May 12 2019Visuals from polling booth no 329 332 at Sidharth Shiksha Niketan in Siddharthnagar LokSabhaElections2019 Phase6 pictwittercoml06SHtrt2gmdash ANI UP ANINewsUP May 12 2019Union ministers Rao Inderjit Singh and Krishan Pal Gurjar are among the 223 candidates in fray in Haryana Former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda a sitting MLA of Congress from Rohtak district is once again trying his luck to enter the lower House this time from Sonipat Earlier Hooda had remained a fourtime MP from Rohak parliamentary constituency Hoodas son Deepender is seeking reelection for fourth term from Rohtak as Congress nominee Among other candidates Union minister Birender Singhs son Brijendra Singh BJP and former chief minister Bhajan Lals grandson Bhavya Bishnoi Congress both political greenhorns are contesting from the Hisar Lok Sabha seat where they face sitting MP and leader of newly floated JJP Dushyant Chautala grandson of former chief minister O P ChautalaVisuals from a polling booth in Bhopal Madhya Pradesh Phase6 LokSabhaElections2019 pictwittercomMmNqo48v9Wmdash ANI ANI May 12 2019Former Union minister Kumari Selja and state Congress chief Ashok Tanwar are fighting from Ambala and Sirsa respectively for the party Four sitting MPs including Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh are among the 127 candidates contesting in Bihar The final phase of polls will be held for 59 seats on May 19 Results will be declared on May 23Catch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesEdited by midday online desk with inputs from Agencies