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Polling in the third phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections is underway on Tuesday in 93 parliamentary constituencies across 11 states and four Union territories.
As the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate won from the Surat seat unopposed, elections are being held in 25 of the 26 seats of Gujarat, 11 seats in Maharashtra, 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh, 14 seats in Karnataka, nine seats in Madhya Pradesh, seven in Chhattisgarh, five in Bihar, four each in Assam and West Bengal and both the seats in Goa. Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu also went to polls on Tuesday.
As of 3 pm, the voter turnout in Goa was 61.39%, 47.03% in Gujarat, 54.20% in Karnataka, 54.09% in Madhya Pradesh, 42.63% in Maharashtra, 46.78% in Uttar Pradesh and 63.11% in West Bengal, according to data released by the Election Commission.
The turnout in Assam was 63.08%, 46.69% in Bihar and 58.19% in Chhattisgarh. Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu had recorded a voter turnout of 52.43%.
In Surat, BJP candidate Mukesh Dalal was declared the winner on April 22 after the Congress’ Nilesh Kumbhani was disqualified by the polling officer and other candidates withdrew their nominations.
Voting is being held in Madhya Pradesh’s Betul seat in this phase as the Election Commission postponed the polls in the constituency, originally scheduled for April 22, following the death of a Bahujan Samaj Party candidate.
On the other hand, polling in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag-Rajouri constituency, which was supposed to take place on Tuesday, has been rescheduled for the sixth phase on May 25. This came after the Election Commission received representations from the BJP, Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Conference and the Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party. The move was opposed by the National Conference, the Peoples Democratic Party and the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
Over 18 lakh polling security personnel have been deployed at 1.85 lakh polling stations in the third phase. There are a total of 17.24 crore registered voters, including 39,599 voters above 100 years of age.
Also read: The BJP wants an Opposition-free Gujarat. But some are putting up a fight
Key candidates and constituencies
Among the prominent candidates in the fray in the third phase are Union home minister Amit Shah from Gandhinagar, Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia from Guna, former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan from Vidisha, former Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai from Haveri, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh from Rajgarh and Samajwadi Party’s Dimple Yadav from Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh.
In Maharashtra’s Baramati seat, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar-led faction of the Nationalist Congress Party is taking on Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader and sitting MP Supriya Sule. Sunetra Pawar, the wife of Ajit Pawar, is contesting against Sule.
In July, Ajit Pawar, along with several party MLAs, joined Maharashtra’s coalition government, comprising the BJP and the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction. The move led to a split in the Nationalist Congress Party, with one faction supporting Sharad Pawar and the other backing Ajit Pawar.
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Voter turnout in first two phases
The first phase of the polls on April 19 saw voting in 102 parliamentary constituencies across 17 states and four Union Territories. The Election Commission said that an estimated 66.14% of the electorate turned up to vote on that day.
The second phase was held on April 26 in 88 constituencies across 12 states and the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. A voter turnout of 66.71% was recorded.
The final voter turnout data was released more than 10 days after the first phase and four days after the second phase of polling. The figures for both phases were substantially higher than the provisional polling estimates released by the Election Commission.
The Opposition had questioned the poll panel for the delay in releasing the final voter turnout data and alleged discrepancy in the figures.
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