• A voter turnout of 58.34 per cent was recorded till 5 pm in the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha polls with incidents of violence between TMC and BJP supporters reported in Sandeshkhali region of West Bengal, and complaints of EVM glitches and rigging at some booths lodged.

• A voter turnout of 49.68 per cent was recorded till 3 pm on Saturday in the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha polls, according to the EC's voter-turnout app. A voter turnout of nearly 60.14 per cent was recorded in Jharkhand. Uttar Pradesh logged a polling percentage of 46.83, West Bengal 58.46, Bihar 42.95 and Himachal Pradesh 58.41. Punjab recorded a voter turnout of 46.38 per cent till 3 pm while Chandigarh registered a voting percentage of 52.61. Odisha recorded around 49.77 per cent voting
  
• A voter turnout of 40.09 per cent was recorded till 1 pm on Saturday in the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha polls, the Election Commission (EC) said. The voting is being held in all 13 seats of Punjab and four of Himachal Pradesh, 13 constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, nine in West Bengal, eight in Bihar, six in Odisha and three in Jharkhand, besides Chandigarh. Polling for the remaining 42 Assembly constituencies in Odisha and bypolls to six Assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh are also taking place simultaneously. A voter turnout of nearly 46.8 per cent was recorded in Jharkhand till 1 pm. Uttar Pradesh logged a polling percentage of 39.31, West Bengal 45.07, Bihar 35.65 and Himachal Pradesh 48.63. Punjab recorded a voter turnout of 37.8 per cent in the first six hours of polling while Chandigarh registered a voting percentage of 40.14. Odisha recorded around 37.64 per cent voting till 1 pm. Sporadic incidents of violence were reported from West Bengal as TMC and BJP workers clashed in various parts of the Jadavpur and Diamond Harbour constituencies.

• A voter turnout of 26.3 per cent was recorded till 11 am in the seventh and final phase. Himachal Pradesh leads with 31.92 per cent; Uttar Pradesh 28.02 per cent; West Bengal 28.1 per cent; Jharkhand 29.55 per cent; Chandigarh (UT) 25.03 per cent; Bihar 24.25 per cent; Punjab 23.91 per cent; Odisha 22.64 per cent
  
• Till 9 am, the approximate polling percentage was 11.31 per cent, according to the Election Commission's (EC) voter-turnout app. A voter turnout of nearly 12.15 per cent was recorded in Jharkhand till 9 am. Uttar Pradesh logged a polling percentage of 12.94, West Bengal 12.63, Bihar 10.58 and Himachal Pradesh 14.35
  
• "I want to appeal to everyone to exercise their constitutional rights and participate in the festival of democracy," says actor and BJP candidate from Mandi seat Kangana Ranaut after casting vote

• Lalu Prasad Yadav, Yogi Adityanath and Bhagwant Mann cast their votes as polling underway in 57 constituencies in 8 states

As voters in his constituency of Varanasi queue up at polling stations on Saturday, the last day of the ongoing seven-phase Lok Sabha elections, a confident Prime Minister Narendra Modi is at Vivekananda Memorial in Kanyakumari on a 45-hour meditation.

Voting is being held in 57 constituencies across seven states and a Union territory. As for Modi, he is Seeking a third straight term from the ancient city of Varanasi.

Out of 80 Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, the highest in the country, voting is being held in 13 seats of the state on Saturday. Voting is also being held in 13 seats of Punjab, nine in West Bengal and eight in neighbouring Bihar.

TTO Graphics.

As campaigning ended on Thursday, Modi issued an appeal to the Varanasi electorate in Bhojpuri via a video, wherein he urged the 19.62 lakh voters of the constituency to show the same enthusiasm that they had exhibited in the two previous elections when he won from the seat. Letters written by Modi have been distributed among first-time voters by BJP workers.

Modi's victory from Varanasi is a foregone conclusion, yet the BJP has left no corner untouched. The party top brass, including Union home minister Amit Shah, party national president J.P. Nadda and the UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, have been camping in India’s oldest city. Their target: increase Modi’s victory margin. In the previous election, Modi won by 4,79,505 votes.

Even if the votes of the two candidates who finished second and third in 2019 were combined, Modi still had a lead of over three lakh votes. In this election, the SP and the Congress are contesting together as partners as a part of the INDIA bloc.

As his victory margin has soared, the number of rivals in the constituency has shrunk from 41 in 2014 to only seven this year. A stand-up comedian and mimic, Shyam Rangeela’s nomination was rejected by the Election Commission.

TTO Graphics.

Disenchantment among local weavers and sari traders, those upset with the demolition drive on their homes and shops, as Varanasi went on a modernisation overdrive by building highways and roads in the last ten years, is unlikely to have any impact on the caste and religious equations of the region, something the BJP under Modi has successfully embraced to turn into a formidable machinery.

Since the polls were announced on March 16, Modi has addressed over 206 rallies and gave 80 interviews, the BJP has said.

The bulk of these speeches since the first phase of the polls were held on April 19 have focussed on India’s largest minority, the Muslims, as Modi went on what appeared to be a polarisation overdrive to consolidate Hindu votes across the country, especially in the Hindi heartland which played a decisive role in Modi’s ascension to power a decade ago.

Before the long-drawn poll campaign came to an end on Thursday evening, both Modi and his principal rival, the Congress, exuded confidence of forming the next government at the Centre.

“I have travelled across the country and people have decided and made up their mind to elect a Modi government for the third time. The dumdaar sarkar (strong government) is coming back,” Modi said at Punjab’s Hoshiarpur wrapping up his campaign on Thursday. “I have already prepared the roadmap for the first 125 days. The first 25 days will be dedicated to the youth.”

On the same day in Delhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said this election would be remembered for long. "They wanted to divert the attention from the real issues but we asked for votes on the real issues,” said Kharge at a news conference. “The mandate (on June 4 when the counting is held) will be for a new alternate government.”

Later on Thursday, night the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi echoed similar sentiments in a video message.

Apart from Modi, the electoral fates of Union ministers Anupriya Patel, Mahendra Nath Pandey and Pankaj Chaudhary will be decided in the concluding phase. Former prime minister, the late Chandra Shekhar’s son, Neeraj Shekhar, is contesting from Ballia and Afzal Ansari, brother of the late Mukhtar Ansari is contesting from Ghazipur.

TTO Graphics.