Voting for the third phase of Lok Sabha elections will be held in 93 seats across 11 states and one UT on Tuesday. The states that go to the polls include Madhya Pradesh (9), Uttar Pradesh (10), Bihar (5), Chattisgarh (7), Gujarat (25), Karnataka (14), Maharashtra (11), West Bengal (4), Goa (2), Assam (4), Dadra and Nagar Havel and Daman and Diu (2).
In the third phase, over 1,300 candidates, including around 120 women, are vying for seats in the Lok Sabha.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah were among the 172 million voters eligible to vote on Tuesday.
Narendra Modi cast his vote at Nishan Higher Secondary School at Ahmedabad, accompanied by Amit Shah. “Today is voting for 3rd phase of Lok Sabha Elections. I appeal to countrymen that they should vote in large numbers,” the Prime Minister told reporters, displaying his inked finger to the media.
“There is great importance of ‘Daan’ in our country and in the same spirit, the countrymen should vote as much as possible. Four rounds of voting are still ahead. As a voter in Gujarat, this is the only place where I vote regularly and Amit Bhai is contesting from here as a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate,” Modi added, referring to Amit Shah.
Other prominent people who are in the fray include Union ministers Amit Shah from Gujarat’s Gandhinagar, Jyotiraditya Scindia from Guna, Madhya Pradesh, Pralhad Joshi from Karnataka’s Dharwad and former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan from Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh.
From opposition parties, Samajwadi Party’s Dimple Yadav from Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh; Congress’s Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury from Berhampore, West Bengal, and Digvijaya Singh from Rajgarh, Madhya Pradesh; NCP’s Supriya Sule from Maharashtra’s Baramati are some of the candidates seeking a mandate in the third phase.
Interestingly, the third phase covers seats and regions that are BJP strongholds, including Madhya Pradesh and Modi’s home state Gujarat. In the 2019 elections, the party won 72 of the 93 seats going to polls on Tuesday. However, things have since changed as the Congress and its allies have gained strength in states like Maharashtra and Karnataka.
The first two phases saw a turnout of 66.14% and 66.71% respectively, which was marginally lower than the corresponding phases in 2019. The Election Commission has since stepped up its campaigns to encourage people to vote while consulting with weather officials and health and disaster management agencies to deal with the impact of heatwave conditions on Tuesday’s vote.
For more breaking news and live news updates. Read more on Bharat Scope.