Polling began at 7 am on Thursday in 117 constituencies spread across 11 states and one union territory (Puducherry) in the sixth phase of Lok Sabha polls 2014. As many as 180 million voters will exercise their franchise on this day. For both Congress and BJP, the stakes are high, but for AIADMK, DMK, NCP and Shiv Sena, it is a battle of survival.
Jayalalithaa’s prime ministerial ambition hinges on her garnering the lion’s share of 40 seats, including the Union Territory of Puducherry.
In Maharashtra, the going is rough for Congress. The state has 19 Lok Sabha seats, including six in Mumbai. With the Bollywood stars away in the US for an award ceremony, poor early turnout is reported from most of the constituencies. Â Â
Seven constituencies in Bihar are going to polls, four in Jharkhand, five in Rajasthan and six in Assam, where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who represents the state in the Rajya Sabha, and his wife Gursharan Kaur will vote.
Mulayam Singh’s family, including his chief minister son, Akhilesh Yadav, voted in Saifai in Etawah district. Samajwadi Party holds five of the seats polling on Thursday, including Yadav’s seat Mainpuri. Rashtriya Lok Dal holds two seats, Congress three. Â
In Jammu and Kashmir, polling is being held in the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat.
Big names in the fray include the BJP’s Sushma Swaraj in Vidisha, DMK leader A Raja in the Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav from Mainpuri in UP and Union minister Salman Khurshid from Farrukhabad in UP.
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