Voting underway in India’s Odisha in sixth phase of massive election

Indian President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, and other top political leaders cast their ballots in the Indian capital on Saturday in the ongoing sixth phase of the elections.

Opposition leader and Delhi Chief Arvind Kejriwal whose bail after pre-trial detention of nearly two months in a graft case has given fresh impetus to the opposition campaign, also voted in the capital.

Kejriwal, a staunch critic of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged voters in New Delhi to show up in huge numbers to exercise their polling right despite the severe heatwave conditions.

Meanwhile, Peoples Democratic Party leader Mehbooba Mufti sat on the road in protest against the arrest of her party workers which has kept them from voting in Indian Kashmir.

Among those who cast their ballot early in New Delhi were opposition leaders Rahul Gandhi, and his mother Sonia Gandhi.

Indian foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and his wife were also among the first few voters at a polling station in New Delhi and said he expected a great turnout in the capital.

More than 111 million people in 58 constituencies across eight states and federal territories are eligible to vote in the general election’s sixth phase, which recorded a turnout of 10.82% in the first two hours of the 11-hour poll.

The overall turnout in the same phase of the last elections in 2019 was about 63%. Voting in the elections began on April 19 and will conclude on June 1, with counting set for June 4.

Source: BBC

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