The stage is set for fourth phase elections as voting began on Monday (May 13) with 96 seats up for grabs across 10 states and Union Territories. A total of 1,717 candidates are in the fray. Voting began at 7 an and will end at 6 pm.
Polling is taking place across 13 seats in Uttar Pradesh, five in Bihar, four in Jharkhand, eight in Madhya Pradesh, 11 in Maharashtra, four in Odisha, eight in West Bengal, and one in Jammu and Kashmir. All 25 constituencies in Andhra Pradesh and 17 seats in Telangana will complete polling in a single phase today.
Simultaneously, voting will be held in 175 Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, featuring a triangular contest between the YSRCP, the Congress-led INDIA bloc, and the NDA, comprising the BJP, Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP, and Pawan Kalyan-led Jana Sena Party (JSP).
Campaigning for the elections, spanning 10 states and union territories, concluded on Saturday evening.
Key candidates in the fray include Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav (Kannauj, UP), Union ministers Giriraj Singh (Begusarai, Bihar) and Nityanand Rai (Ujiarpur, Bihar), Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (Baharampur, WB), BJP’s Pankaja Munde (Beed, Maharashtra), AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi (Hyderabad, Telangana), and Andhra Pradesh Congress president YS Sharmila (Kadapa).
Union minister Ajay Kumar Mishra Teni, whose son is an accused in the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, is eyeing a hat-trick from Kheri (UP), while TMC’s Mahua Moitra, who was expelled from Lok Sabha in the wake of cash-for query allegations, is seeking re-election from Krishnanagar in West Bengal.
Issues such as reservations, appeasement politics, corruption, and jobs dominated the narratives in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections.
The campaign witnessed BJP leaders, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, targeting the Congress over remarks made by Rahul Gandhi’s close aide Sam Pitroda on “race” and “skin colour” of Indians. The BJP accused INDIA bloc parties of being “anti-Hindu” and engaging in “loot, appeasement,” and “dynastic politics.”
Prime Minister Modi accused the Congress of having a “deal” with businessmen Ambani and Adani, while Gandhi challenged Modi to investigate if Adani and Ambani sent black money to his party.
Polling for the next three phases is scheduled for May 20, May 25, and June 1, with vote counting set for June 4. The three phases saw voter turnout of 66.14, 66.7, and 65.68 per cent, respectively, witnessing a consistent dip compared to the 2019 elections.