Campaigning ends for sixth phase across 58 Lok Sabha seats

NEW DELHI: Campaigning ended Thursday for the penultimate phase of Lok Sabha elections in 58 constituencies across six states and two UTs, including all seven seats in Delhi, amid severe heatwave conditions sweeping across northern India.

Delhi is likely to experience record-high temperatures of up to 46 degrees celsius during Saturday's polling, according to forecasts. In addition to Delhi, voting for the sixth round of the seven-phase elections will take place in 14 seats in UP, all 10 seats of Haryana, eight each in Bihar and Bengal, six in Odisha, four in Jharkhand, and one in J&K. So far, voting has been completed in 25 states and UTs, covering 428 constituencies out of 543. The final phase of polling is scheduled for June 1, with the counting of votes set for June 4.

In Bengal, with 79 candidates in the fray, Bankura and Jhargram each have the highest number of 13 contestants.

According to UP chief electoral officer Navdeep Rinwa, a total of 162 candidates, including 16 women, are contesting in 14 seats.

In Haryana, the political prestige of CM Nayab Singh Saini, his predecessor Khattar, Union ministers Rao Inderjit Singh and Krishan Pal Gurjar, and Congress stalwarts Kumari Selja and Deepender Singh Hooda is at stake.

In Bihar, top NDA leaders, including PM Narendra Modi and CM Nitish Kumar, have led the campaign, while RJD's Tejashwi Prasad Yadav has been a prominent figure for the opposition. Former MP Shahabuddin's wife Hena Shahab has made the contest triangular in Siwan seat by joining the fray against JD(U)'s Vijaylaxmi Devi and RJD's Awadh Bihari Choudhury.

(Inputs from Sanjiv Das in Patna)