Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 today: 93 seats up for grabs across states

Election Commission officers gather for EVM systems distributions eve of voting day for Lok Sabha election of Sangli constituency at Sangli on Monday.

More than 172 million people across 11 states and Union territories, ranging from the riverine islands of Assam to the coast of Gujarat and from the Konkan coast in Karnataka to western Uttar Pradesh, will vote in 93 Lok Sabha seats on Tuesday, sealing the fates of 1,331 candidates, including six Union ministers and four former chief ministers.

Full coverage of Lok Sabha Election 2024

When voting closes on Tuesday, more than half of India’s 543 Lok Sabha seats – 282 to be exact – would have gone to the polls, marking a crucial turn in the six-week-long general elections that began last month. At stake will be all 26 seats in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stronghold of Gujarat, as well as 14 seats in the Congress-ruled Karnataka and 11 in Maharashtra, where splintering regional forces have rendered the elections unpredictable.

“The Election Commission of India is fully geared up for the Phase-3 of the Lok Sabha polls tomorrow (Tuesday)… The commission has called upon voters to turnout in greater numbers at polling stations and vote with responsibility and pride,” ECI said in a statement on Monday.

By the end of day, voting would be complete in 20 states and Union territories. On April 19, 102 seats went to polls in the first phase and on April 26, 88 constituencies exercised their franchise. In sharp focus will be the turnout – the first phase voting percentage of 66.14% and the second phase figure of 66.71% – were both lower than the 2019 numbers of about 70% and 69.64%, respectively – and the rising temperatures across vast swathes of the heartland and eastern India, which are gripped by heatwaves.

“Weather conditions are predicted to be within normal ranges. However, for convenience for voters, meticulous arrangements have been made at all polling stations including facilities like water, shamiyana, fans to deal with hot weather conditions,” ECI said in a statement.

Overall, across the 93 seats going to the polls on Tuesday, the 2019 outcome is not possible to be calculated for the four seats in Assam that underwent delimitation. Of the remaining 89, 70 seats were won by the BJP and three by the Congress in 2019. The JD(U) – which is part of the NDA – won three seats; while TMC and SP – which are part of the INDIA alliance – won two each. The Shiv Sena, the NCP, and the LJP won four, three, and one seat respectively. All three parties have undergone a split since 2019.

The third phase of the polling saw fierce campaigning by both sides. Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the charge for the BJP, alleging that Pakistan wanted the Congress to win and for its prince – a reference to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi – to become prime minister. He also blamed the Congress of blocking the development of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, saying that the party wanted to give SC/ST reservations to Muslims.

Addressing an election rally in Jharkhand’s Palamu on Saturday, Modi had said, “These parties now want to snatch away the reservation of SC, ST and OBC. When our Constitution was being drafted, it was unanimously decided that reservations would never be granted in India based on religion. But now they want to rob the reservation of tribals, backward classes, and Dalits and give it to Muslims based on religion.”

The Opposition has rebuffed the charges and accused the BJP of running a communal campaign to divide the electorate. It has focussed on the allegation that the BJP wanted to change the Constitution if it won 400 seats and cast itself as the protector of the Constitution and reservation.

“These elections are being fought to save the Constitution and reservations extended to the poor and protect the rights on land, jungle and employment. But Modiji has made up his mind to change and scrap it (Constitution),” Rahul Gandhi said on Monday.

Shah, whose Lok Sabha seat of Gandhinagar will go the polls on Tuesday, said that opposition leaders did not go for the Ram Temple consecration ceremony in January as they wanted to appease “infiltrators”. The BJP has also targeted former Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, who said that the recent terror attack in Poonch was orchestrated.

Four former chief ministers – Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Digvijaya Singh of Madhya Pradesh, Narayan Rane of Maharashtra and Basavaraj Bommai of Karnataka – and at least six Union ministers – Amit Shah, civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, Mansukh Mandaviya, Pralhad Joshi, among others – are also in the fray. .

The Prime Minister will cast his vote from Ahmedabad on Tuesday as well.

“I am fully confident the BJP’s flag will fly high in all the seats in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior and Bhopal divisions (going to polls in 3rd phase),” Scindia told reporters in Gwalior.

Of the 26 seats in Gujarat, voting for 25 will take place as BJP candidate Mukesh Dalal won unopposed from Surat.

In Maharashtra, all eyes will be on the high-profile contest in Baramati, where two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party are in direct contest. The Ajit Pawar faction has nominated the deputy CM’s wife Sunetra Pawar, who is taking on sitting MP, Supriya Sule, who is also the daughter of party patriarch Sharad Pawar.

A prestige battle will also ensue in Uttar Pradesh, where the Yadav family bastion of Mainpuri is among the 10 seats in the fray. In this seat, once held by five-time UP CM Mulayam Singh Yadav, his daughter-in-law and party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s wife Dimple Yadav is aiming to consolidate the party’s hold over its pocket borough.

Voting will also take place for remaining 14 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka, coming just days after rape and mass sexual assault allegations surfaced against Janata Dal (Secular) Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna, also the grandson of former prime minister HD Deve Gowda.

His father, HD Revanna, was remanded in police custody for three days this weekend, and a “blue notice” was issued against Prajwal , who is outside India, over abduction and sexual assault charges.

The BJP has sought to corner the Congress over the incident, but Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah, who set up a special investigation team to probe the case two weeks ago, has blamed the BJP, asking why it allowed its ally to nominate Prajwal.

Among other constituencies voting are four in Assam, five in Bihar, seven in Chhattisgarh, eight in Madhya Pradesh, 11 in Maharashtra, 10 in Uttar Pradesh and four in West Bengal.

In Bengal, Congress’s Lok Sabha floor leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury will hope to defend his seat of Murshidabad for a sixth timne.

Voting for the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat in Jammu and Kashmir was deferred to May 25 during inclement weather.

Read more news like this on HindustanTimes.com