New Delhi: The world’s most populous nation began voting on April 19 in a seven-phase election in which nearly one billion people are eligible to vote, with ballots set to be counted on June 4.
Voter turnout, however, has been a concern as the first two phases registered marginally lower numbers compared to 2019 polls and initial figures from the Election Commission showed a fall on Tuesday as well at 61.45%, compared to around 66% in the same phase five years back.
The third phase of voting for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections took place today in 93 constituencies spread over 11 states and Union Territories. More than 1,300 candidates, including 120 women, contested in this crucial phase.
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The Phase 3 election was in areas that are BJP strongholds. In 2019, the party won 72 of the 92 seats that went to the polls today, 26 of them are in Gujarat alone.
The other state where the BJP had done extremely well, Karnataka, could be a dark horse given the massive sex scandal that has hit BJP ally Janata Dal Secular. The BJP has tried to distance itself from the scandal.
Maharashtra, where 11 of 48 seats went to polls, has proved harder to read given the seismic political shifts the state has seen over the last few years. The key battles were Pawar versus Pawar in Baramati — with the factions led by uncle Sharad Pawar and nephew Ajit Pawar trying to establish dominance.
Key candidates for this phase included 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.
The states that voted in phase 3 included Assam (4 seats), Bihar (5), Chhattisgarh (7), Goa (2), Gujarat (25), Karnataka (14), Madhya Pradesh (8), Maharashtra (11), Uttar Pradesh (10), West Bengal (4), Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (2).
The key Opposition members in the fray included Samajwadi Party’s Dimple Yadav from Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh; Congress’s Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury from Baharampur, West Bengal, and Digvijaya Singh from Rajgarh, Madhya Pradesh and NCP’s Supriya Sule from Maharashtra’s Baramati.
Perfume baron Badruddin Ajmal of AIDUF contested from Assam’s Dhubri. The next phase of the election is due on May 13. The counting of votes will be held on June 4 after the last phase of the election ends on June 1.
– Dr. Shahid Siddiqui; Follow via X @shahidsiddiqui
