At 64.2%, Haryana turnout lower than ’19, Sirsa leads with 69%; Delhi records 58%

Bhartesh Singh Thakur & Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh/New Delhi, May 25

The voter turnout in Saturday’s polling for the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana crossed the 64 per cent mark. The polling figure in the state stood at 64.2 per cent late at night.

The seven Lok Sabha constituencies of Delhi witnessed 58.7 per cent voter turnout, as per data released at 11.45 pm, against 60.52 per cent recorded in 2019 when the BJP had swept all seats.

Polling high in rural areas of Haryana

The polling was high in rural areas in Haryana where resentment against the BJP was visible. The urban areas witnessed low voting.

Independent MLA dies shortly after voting

Independent MLA from the Badshahpur Assembly constituency in Gurugram Rakesh Daultabad died a few hours after voting. Daultabad, who passed away due to a cardiac arrest, was a popular youth leader.

Haryana Chief Secretary TVSN Prasad said, “The elections have passed off peacefully across the state.”

According to the office of the Haryana Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), the final figures will be updated on Sunday. In the 2019 Lok Sabha poll, the voter turnout was 70.34 per cent.

In the bypoll to the Karnal Assembly seat, from where Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini is contesting, the turnout was 57.8 per cent till 8 pm when the data was last updated. In 2019, the turnout here was 52.4 per cent.

“The final figures will be known by Sunday,” said Manish Kumar Lohan, an HCS officer coordinating with the media on behalf of the CEO’s office.

CEO Anurag Agrawal said, “Whosoever was standing till 6 pm was allowed to vote. We are hopeful of the voting percentage touching last time’s figure.”

The highest polling percentage was recorded in the Sirsa parliamentary constituency at 69.1 per cent where BJP’s Ashok Tanwar and Congress’ Kumari Selja are locked in a tight battle. It was followed by the Ambala Lok Sabha seat with a 67 per cent turnout. Here, Congress’ Varun Chaudhary is pitted against BJP’s Banto Kataria.

Kurukshetra recorded 66.3 per cent voting. Here, BJP’s Naveen Jindal, Indian National Lok Dal’s Abhay Chautala and Aam Aadmi Party’s Sushil Gupta are locked in a triangular battle.

The lowest turnout was witnessed in the Faridabad constituency at 60.2 per cent. Gurgaon recorded 60.7 per cent vote. Political observers are keenly watching the outcome in the Karnal Lok Sabha seat where former CM Manohar Lal Khattar is facing a tough fight from young Congress leader Divyanshu Budhiraja. The voter turnout here was 63.2 per cent.

Caste polarisation was palpable in the polling at Hisar from where three from Devi Lal’s clan — Ranjit Singh, Sunaina Chautala and Naina Chautala — and Congress’ Jai Prakash are locked in a battle. It witnessed 64.7 per cent turnout.

Another key seat is Rohtak, a stronghold of former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda. It witnessed 64.6 per cent polling. In the district-wise tally, Yamunanagar recorded the highest turnout at 71.4 per cent. It is a part of the Ambala Lok Sabha seat. It was followed by Fatehabad district at 69.9 per cent, which is a part of the Sirsa Lok Sabha seat.

The voting was boycotted at Sunderpur village in Jind and Majri Tappu village in Yamunanagar. Agrawal said, “The DCs concerned had gone to convince voters. They were raising development issues.”

The highest polling in the state was recorded in the 1977 Lok Sabha elections at 73.26 per cent followed by the 1967 General Election when the turnout was 72.61 per cent. In the 2014 poll, the voting percentage was 71.45.

As many as 223 candidates, including two union ministers, a former CM and a film actor, are in the fray for the 10 seats in Haryana.

Meanwhile, the seven LS seats in Delhi witnessed 58.7 per cent voter turnout, as per data released at 11.45 pm, against 60.52 per cent recorded in 2019 when the BJP had swept all seats.

This is the first Lok Sabha poll in which the BJP and the Congress are not direct rivals. The Congress contested the election in a pre-poll arrangement with AAP, giving four seats to the Arvind Kejriwal-led party (East Delhi, New Delhi, West Delhi and South Delhi) and keeping three to itself (Chandni Chowk, North East Delhi and North West Delhi).

The alliance, which has seen the Congress sacrifice a major stake, hopes to dent the BJP, which has swept all seven Delhi seats twice in a row (2014 and 2019 LS poll).

In 2014, when Narendra Modi first led the BJP to power at the Centre and became the PM, the BJP had won 46.4 per cent votes in Delhi against AAP’s 33.1 per cent and Congress’ 15.2 per cent. In 2019, the BJP’s vote share in Delhi soared to 56.7 per cent followed by the Congress’ 22.6 per cent and AAP’s 18.2 per cent.