In the third phase of the five-phase Lok Sabha elections, nine states and two union territories are going to polls for a total of 107 parliamentary constituencies on Thursday (April 30). About 14.40 crore eligible voters will exercise their franchise in 1,65,112 polling stations.
The Election Commission of India has made all necessary arrangements to ensure free, fair and transparent elections in all nine states: Bihar, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and two Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Daman and Diu.
Uttar Pradesh: Polling is underway in 15 of Uttar Pradesh's 80 Lok Sabha constituencies. There are a total of 256 candidates, including 22 women, seeking mandate of 22.3 million voters. Over 100,000 officials and 65,000 security personnel are deployed in all those places by the authority for a smooth conduct of poll.
Among the high profile candidates, Congress president Sonia Gandhi seeking re-election from Rae Bareli while a four-cornered contest is between BJP’s Lalji Tandon, BSP’s Akhilesh Das, Congress candidate Rita Bahuguna Joshi and Nafisa Ali of the Samajwadi Party.
Karnataka: In the final phase of elections in the state, 11 Lok Sabha seats will decide the fate of 156 candidates, in which an estimated 15.5 million voters, including 7.52 million women, will cast their votes.
Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda, former chief minister S. Bangarappa, former central minister and Congress leader B. Janardhana Poojary, and well-known Kannada film star M.H. Ambareesh also of Congress are among the heavyweights contesting for their respective constituencies.
Maharashtra: Stage has been set with elaborate security arrangements for the 10 parliamentary constituencies in Mumbai and Thane districts of Maharashtra for the final phase of elections in the state. The constituencies going to polls are Mumbai North, Mumbai North-East, Mumbai North-West, Mumbai North-Central, Mumbai South-Central, Mumbai South, Thane, Kalyan, Bhiwandi and Palghar.
Some of the prominent candidates in the fray include Congress candidate from Mumbai North Central Priya Dutt, sitting MPs Milind Deora of Congress and Shiv Sena's Mohan Rawle (Mumbai South), as also BJP leaders Ram Naik (Mumbai North) and Kirit Somaiya (Mumbai North-East).
West Bengal: The Left’s stronghold West Bengal goes to the polls for the first in its three-phase Lok Sabha elections in 14 out of 42 Lok Sabha seats. A total of 1.69 crore electorate will vote for 134 candidates, including nine women. The other two phases are on May 7 and May 13.
BJP leader and former external affairs minister Jaswant Singh from Darjeeling, CPI(M) leader Basudeb Acharya from Bankura, CPI Lok Sabha MP Gurudas Dasgupta from Ghatal and the wife of ailing Congress leader Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, Deepa Dasmunshi are among the stalwarts in poll fray.
Madhya Pradesh: The BJP, here, has a direct fight with Congress in 16 of the state’s 29 parliamentary seats. The poll fortunes of 231 candidates, including nine women, are in the hands of an estimated 20,889,797 voters, who are to exercise their franchise.
Gujarat: Another BJP-ruled state under the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will see voting at all its 26 constituencies in a single phase.
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