Sixth Phase Of Lok Sabha Elections For 58 Seats: M L Khattar, Bansuri Swaraj, Manoj Tiwari, Kanhaiya Kumar, Sambit Patra In Fray

Voters in eight states and Union Territories are participating in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 today (25 May).

A total of 58 Lok Sabha constituencies, including 14 in Uttar Pradesh, 10 in Haryana, eight each in West Bengal and Bihar, seven in Delhi, six in Odisha, four in Jharkhand, and one in Jammu and Kashmir, are undergoing polls in this phase.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, the BJP-led NDA won 45 of these 58 seats (BJP 40, JDU 3, LJP 1, and AJSU 1). The Congress-led UPA won only 1 seat (JKNC 1), and other parties won 12 seats (BSP 4, BJD 4, TMC 3, and SP 1).

Several key candidates are contesting in the sixth phase, including former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, former J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti, ex-JNU president and Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar, Bhojpuri actor and singer Manoj Tiwari, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, party leader Maneka Gandhi and Naveen Jindal, industrialist and former Union Minister who recently joined BJP, and Congress leader and actor Raj Babbar.

The key seats in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections are New Delhi, North-East Delhi, North-West Delhi, Chandni Chowk; Sultanpur and Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag-Rajouri; West Bengal's Tamluk, Medinipur; Haryana's Karnal, Kurukshetra, Gurgaon, Rohtak and Odisha's Bhubaneswar, Puri and Sambalpur.

New Delhi Lok Sabha Seat

In New Delhi seat, BJP candidate Bansuri Swaraj, daughter of the late Union Minister Sushma Swaraj, is contesting against AAP's Somnath Bharti. In the 2019 and 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had secured all the seats in the national capital.

North-East Delhi Lok Sabha Seat

In North East Delhi, sitting MP Manoj Tiwari (BJP) is facing Congress's Kanhaiya Kumar.

The BJP, which won all seats in the national capital in the 2019 polls, has dropped six of its seven MPs this time, retaining only Tiwari, who transitioned from acting to politics.

Sultanpur Lok Sabha Seat (UP)

Former union minister and BJP leader Maneka Gandhi is contesting from the Sultanpur Lok Sabha seat against Samajwadi Party's Ram Bhual Nishad and BSP's Uday Raj Verma.

Azamgarh Lok Sabha Seat (UP)

In Azamgarh, BJP's Dinesh Lal Yadav 'Nirahua' is competing against SP's Dharmendra Yadav, cousin of former UP CM and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav. The Azamgarh seat was previously won by Akhilesh Yadav in 2019 and Mulayam Singh Yadav in 2014.

Puri Lok Sabha Seat (Odisha)

BJP leader Sambit Patra is contesting from the Puri seat in Odisha against BJD's Arup Patnaik and Congress' Jay Narayan Patnaik.

Patra recently stirred controversy with remarks about Lord Jagannath.

Arup Patnaik, a former Mumbai Police Commissioner, is contesting his second consecutive Lok Sabha election, having lost in 2019 from Bhubaneswar.

Kurukshetra Lok Sabha Seat (Haryana)

In Haryana's Kurukshetra, BJP's industrialist candidate Naveen Jindal is contesting against AAP's Sushil Gupta and INLD's Abhay Singh Chautala.

Jindal, who switched from Congress to BJP in March this year, previously served as Kurukshetra's representative from 2004 to 2014 but was defeated in 2014 and not nominated in 2019.

Karnal Lok Sabha Seat (Haryana)

Former Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar (BJP) is contesting from Karnal against Congress candidate Divyanshu Budhiraja. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP won all seats in Haryana, including Karnal.

Gurgaon Lok Sabha Seat (Haryana)

In Gurgaon, Congress's Raj Babbar is contesting against BJP's sitting MP Rao Inderjit Singh. Singh won the seat in both 2019 and 2014 with significant vote margins.

Tamluk Lok Sabha Seat (West Bengal)

BJP candidate Abhijit Gangopadhyay, a former Calcutta High Court judge, is contesting from Tamluk, West Bengal, against TMC's Debangshu Bhattacharya and CPI(M)'s Sayan Banerjee.

Gangopadhyay joined BJP in March after stepping down as a judge.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, TMC's Dibyendu Adhikari defeated BJP's Sidhartha Shankar Naskar in Tamluk.

Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha Seat (Jammu and Kashmir)

Mehbooba Mufti, former J&K chief minister and President of the Peoples Democratic Party, is contesting in the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency of Jammu and Kashmir against National Conference leader Mian Altaf Ahmed Larvi.

The stakes are high in this three-way contest, as Zafar Iqbal Manhas of the Apni Party is also a candidate. Mufti has previously won this seat twice, while it has also been held by the National Conference.

The first phase of voting for the Lok Sabha elections took place on 19 April, covering 102 constituencies.

The second phase was completed on 26 April with voting in 88 seats. The third phase, involving 93 seats across 11 states and UTs, occurred on 7 May.

The fourth phase concluded on 13 May with polling on 96 seats, and the fifth phase, including 49 seats in 8 states and UTs, was on 20 May. The results for all seats will be declared on 4 June.