LS polls LIVE: 25.41% turnout till 11 a.m.; Rahul Gandhi urges people to vote

The presiding officer at a polling booth in Supaul, in Bihar—identified as Shailendra Kumar—passed away while on duty.

It was found he was diabetic and died possibly due to a heart attack.

The doctor on duty said: "He was rushed to the PHC, where he was declared dead. The body has been brought here to Sadar Hospital for postmortem. His relatives were informed and they too have reached here. Postmortem has been done."

Disabled voters made their way to many a polling booth across the 11 states (and union territories) voting today.

The heatwave sweeping the country has become a major source of worry for voters.

A heavy thunderstorm on the evening of Monday, 6 May, brought welcome relief to several districts in West Bengal, where the mercury had crossed 40 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile, Assam found relief in the light rain from multiple cyclonic circulations near the north-eastern states today.

The Prime Minister, addressing a rally in Khargone, Madhya Pradesh, added that the Congress was stabbing Babasaheb Ambedkar in the back. He did not clarify in what way.

"India is at a turning point in history; you have to decide if vote jihad will work or Ram Rajya," Modi claimed.

Khargone goes to the polls on 13 May, in the fourth phase

A voter turnout of 29.90 per cent was recorded in the first four hours of polling in the seven Lok Sabha constituencies being polled in the third and last phase of the general elections in the state.

Polling is being held in Raipur, Durg, Bilaspur, Korba, Janjgir–Champa (reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates), Surguja and Raigarh (both reserved for Scheduled Tribe candidates).

The state has 11 Lok Sabha seats in all.

"Voting is a right, a privilege and a responsibility," said Adani, as he voted with his family in Ahmedabad. He posted on X to announce he'd done his duty by the nation, and promptly got trolled for it:

Polling has been underway peacefully for the last three hours in the four Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal, with a relatively high turnout of 15.85 per cent until 9 a.m.

Altogether 73,37,651 voters, including 36,12,395 women and 154 belonging to a third gender, are eligible to exercise their franchise.

Voters were seen lining up outside the 7,360 polling stations in the four parliamentary constituencies of Maldaha Uttar, Maldaha Dakshin, Murshidabad and Jangipur.

Jangipur recorded the highest turnout (16.95 per cent), followed by Maldaha Dakshin (16.33), Maldaha Uttar (15.33) and Murshidabad (14.87).

While 182 complaints have been lodged with the CEO of West Bengal, the official added, "Our officials are keeping a close watch on the proceedings."

An estimated 9.45 percent turnout was reported during the first two hours since voting began for the second phase of Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka in 14 constituencies.

Queues were seen at polling booths in most of the northern districts of the state with voters, mostly senior citizens, morning walkers and joggers, lining up to cast their votes early, with temperatures expected to rise as the day progresses.

In Chhattisgarh, seven constituencies are going to the polls today—Raipur, Durg, Bilaspur, Korba, Janjgir–Champa, Surguja and Raigarh. The last three seats are reserved for the Scheduled Tribes.

Fittingly, then, voters were greeted by tribal performers on drums in some booths.

Altogether 168 candidates are in the fray in the third phase in Chhattisgarh, which has 11 Lok Sabha seats in all. The BJP currently holds nine of these.

A total of 1,39,01,285 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the third phase, being held amidst heightened security.

State minister Priyank Kharge of the Indian National Congress was seen casting his vote at the polling station in Gundugurthi village, in Kalaburagi constituency.

BJP minister Prahlad Joshi was seen praying and seeking the comfort of the ritual flames as he headed out to vote from his residence in Hubbali.

The supremo of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) was out early to cast his ballot, presumably in favour of his daughter Supriya Sule, the NCP (SP) candidate here.

Sule faces off against the NCP's Sunetra Pawar, wife of her rebel cousin Ajit Pawar, who joined hands with the BJP in the state government.

Ajit and Sunetra Pawar were also both seen casting their vote.

While the rest of India roasts, voters in Assam are queued up in defiance of the drizzle.

Four constituencies—Guwahati, Barpeta, Dhubri and Kokrajhar—are at the hustings, featuring 47 candidates in this third and final phase of the Lok Sabha elections in the state.

Prominent parties are AIUDF, Congress, CPI(M) and the BJP here.

There are 82.11 lakh voters, including 40.84 women and 112 of a third gender, eligible to exercise their franchise at the 9,516 polling stations here.

Religious polarisation as well as ethnic divides have been a key theme in this region.

In a post on X, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge says:

'11 crore people in 93 constituencies shall exercise their democratic right, not just to elect their representatives, but shall decide whether they want to secure their constitutional rights or witness our great nation veer towards dictatorship.'

'We are right in the middle of the battle. A correct decision now can create an India where NYAY i.e. justice is supreme.'

Many booths in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Gujarat, Bengal see early voters taking advantage of the lower temperatures and canopies.

However, the sun is already strong, despite the arrangements for shade.

Local media have just recorded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's arrival at his designated polling booth at Nishan Public School in the Ranip locality of Gujarat's Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat.

He was seen waving and giving out autographs, as well as posing for photo ops, ahead of voting (presumably) for himself and the BJP candidate—the union home minister.

Home minister Amit Shah beat him to the booth by a few minutes, reportedly

More than 11 lakh voters in the coastal state are eligible to exercise their franchise in North Goa and South Goa seats, where the ruling BJP and opposition Congress are locked in a straight fight.

In South Goa, industrialist Pallavi Shrinivas Dempo, is the wealthiest contestant in Phase 3 overall, with a declared wealth of Rs 1,361 crore. She takes on Congress leader Capt. Viriato Fernandes.

Shrinivas Dempo's husband is the chairman of the Dempo Group of Companies. He had purchased electoral bonds worth Rs 1.25 crore in January 2022, just ahead of the Goa assembly elections.

Here, the 78-year-old Congress leader Francisco Sardinha is the incumbent MP and the seat is considered a Congress bastion as the grand old party has won the seat 10 times.

Goa has 40 dedicated 40 if its polling stations across both districts to a 'pink booth' campaign. The intent is to encourage and empower women voters and promote gender equality in polling, according to officials here.

Voting started at 7 a.m. in Araria, Jhanjharpur, Supaul, Madhepura and Khagaria, all currently held by NDA MPs.

Over 98 lakh voters will decide the electoral fate of 54 candidates in these five seats. There are a total of 40 seats in Bihar, of which the RJD is contesting 26.

2.59 crore voters will vote today for one of 227 candidates across 14 seats, as Karnataka completes polling in its second round of the Lok Sabha elections.

All of the 14 seats are currently held by the BJP—but there is considerable upset over the double Revanna scandals.

The Congress-led state government has announced financial support for the many survivors of sexual abuse and assault in the Prajwal Revanna case.

Besides the walkover in Surat, a couple of other constituencies saw shake-ups in their polling schedule too.

The Election Commission has also postponed polling in the Anantnag–Rajouri Lok Sabha seat in Jammu and Kashmir to 25 May, the sixth phase of the elections. It was originally supposed to vote today, 7 May, in the third phase.

In Madhya Pradesh’s Betul constituency, on the other hand, elections had originally been scheduled for phase 2. However, polling for this seat was pushed to phase 3 due to the death of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate.

In phase 3, Gujarat had the maximum of nomination forms (658) from its 26 parliamentary constituencies, followed by Maharashtra with 519 nominations from 11 seats.

Seatwise, the Osmanabad parliamentary constituency in Maharashtra received the maximum nomination forms (77), per the ECI, followed by Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh (68).

Before voting can commence in phase 3 of the general elections, the ECI has already ordered repolling at one booth in Rajasthan's Barmar Lok Sabha constituency that voted on 26 April, due to a 'breach of vote confidentiality'.

The electorate assigned to the booth in Dudhwa Khurd village (in the Chohtan assembly constituency) will now vote tomorrow, 8 May.

Rajasthan's chief electoral officer (CEO) Praveen Gupta said that four members of the polling team that conducted the voting here on 26 April have been suspended.

Action will be taken against them under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, for violating the secrecy of voting, he added.

With the mercury soaring past 40 degrees Celsius in many states, what will the turnout look like in the searing heat of 7 May? That's a question nagging many parties and political observers as 11 states and union territories go to the polls in phase 3, including the entirety of Gujarat.

Of the 93 constituencies voting today, the BJP is defending has sitting MPs from 71 of the seats.

Polling was originally scheduled across 94 constituencies—but Gujarat’s Surat has been won by the BJP unopposed, with the Congress candidate's nomination declared invalid and eight others withdrawing in quick succession.