Lok Sabha carnival ends, 60.21% turnout till 6 pm in Phase 7

Guwahati, May 19, 2019:

The greatest festival of democracy has officially come to an end in India as voters have cast their votes in the seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha polls.

In 7th phase of Lok Sabha Elections 2019, 7.27 crore voters took part of which 3.47 crore were women and 3,377 were persons of third gender, as per Election Commission figures.

With this, polling has concluded in 542 parliamentary constituencies across states and union territories.

60.21% voter turnout recorded till 6 pm: Bihar recorded 49.92% turnout, Himachal Pradesh recorded 66.18% turnout, Madhya Pradesh recorded 69.38% turnout, Punjab recorded 58.81%, Uttar Pradesh recorded 54.37%, West Bengal recorded 73.05%, Jharkhand recorded 70.5%, and Chandigarh recorded 63.57% in the seventh phase of the Lok Sabha polls in the country.

Meanwhile, senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram has alleged that the Election Commission has been sleeping on the job and allowed religion to influence politics. Taking to Twitter, he wrote: "Polling is over. Now we can say that the 'pilgrimage' of the PM in the last two days is an unacceptable use of religion and religious symbols to influence the voting."

Congress President Rahul Gandhi has also accused the EC of favouritism, and write: ""From Electoral Bonds & EVMs to manipulating the election schedule, NaMo TV, "Modi's Army" & now the drama in Kedarnath; the Election Commission's capitulation before Mr Modi & his gang is obvious to all Indians.  The EC used to be feared & respected. Not anymore," Rahul Gandhi tweeted."

All parliamentary constituencies in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, along with the Union Territory of Chandigarh, voted in the seventh and final phase of the polls.

In Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, voting took place in a few Lok Sabha constituencies.

The Varanasi seat, from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking to be re-elected, is one of the key seats that will vote in Phase 7.

The carnival of democracy has been spread over a period of five and a half weeks and began on April 11.