The Lok Sabha elections, a mammoth electoral exercise spanning seven phases, are set to conclude with the seventh and final phase of polling on 57 seats across seven states and one union territory. As the world’s largest polling marathon draws to a close, all eyes are on the results slated to be declared on June 4.
Over 10.06 crore eligible voters will exercise their franchise across nearly 1.09 lakh polling stations, with around 10.9 lakh polling officials deployed to ensure smooth polls. Notably, the electorate comprises about 5.24 crore male, 4.82 crore female, and 3,574 third gender voters.
Key constituencies in this phase include Varanasi, from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking re-election, and several others like Mandi, Hamirpur, Dumka, Diamond Harbour, Basirhat, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Patiala, Kendrapara, and Patna Sahib.
In Himachal Pradesh, six assembly seats will also witness bypolls concurrently with the Lok Sabha elections, with potential implications for the Congress government in the state.
Key contests in the seventh phase include:
Chandigarh: BJP’s Sanjay Tandon faces off against former Union Minister Manish Tewari of Congress, supported by AAP.
West Bengal: Notable contests include Dum Dum, Barasat, Basirhat, Jaynagar, Mathurapur, Diamond Harbour, Jadavpur, Kolkata Dakshin, and Kolkata Uttar.
Bihar: Key battles include Nalanda, Patna Sahib, Pataliputra, Arrah, Buxar, Sasaram, Karakat, and Jahanabad.
Himachal Pradesh: Significant contests are expected in Kangra, Mandi, Hamirpur, and Shimla.
Jharkhand: Rajmahal, Dumka, and Godda are among the prominent constituencies witnessing electoral battles.
Odisha: Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, and Jagatsinghpur are notable constituencies.
Punjab: Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Khadoor Sahib, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Anandpur Sahib, Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib, Faridkot, Firozpur, Bathinda, Sangrur, and Patiala are key constituencies.
Uttar Pradesh: Prominent contests include Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushi Nagar, Deoria, Bansgaon, Ghosi, Salempur, Ballia, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Mirzapur, and Robertsganj.
With multi-cornered contests in many constituencies and high-profile candidates across party lines, the final phase of the Lok Sabha elections is poised to shape the political landscape significantly.
