Indian polls: Voting begins in 4th phase; 96 seats up for grab
Millions of Indians today began casting their votes in the fourth phase of polling in parliamentary election encompassing 96 constituencies across ten states and union territories.
Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir will vote today in the general election for the first time since the revocation of Article 370 and abolition of the area as a state in August 2019 when Srinagar constituency goes to poll amidst tight security.
A total of 17.7 crore voters are eligible to line up at 1,92,000 polling booths in the fourth phase, the second-largest phase in the 2024 election cycle in terms of number of constituencies after the first round when 102 constituencies had gone to poll on April 19, reports our New Delhi correspondent.
After phase four, polling will be over in 379 out of the total of 543 Lok Sabha seats.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a rare, third straight term in a vote which pits his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against an alliance of more than two dozen opposition parties, including main rival Congress.
Modi is trying to woo voters with promises of development, social welfare schemes and Hindutva. The opposition is promising cash dole, lakhs of jobs and rein in inflation.
After the seventh and last phase of polling on June 1, the counting of votes is scheduled for June 4.
The run up to today's polling saw electioneering rhetoric turning shriller over issues of economic disparities and religious divisions.
The voters' turnout in the fourth phase will be closely watched as marginally lower figures in the first three phases compared to corresponding rounds in the 2019 general elections has raised concerns over voter apathy in an election without a single strong issue. The lower turnout has raised doubts over whether BJP and its allies can win the landslide predicted by opinion polls.
The first three phases of the election, which were held on April 19, April 26 and May 7, saw a voter turnout of 66.1, 66.7 and 65.68 percent respectively compared to corresponding phases in the 2019 polls.
Analysts say the lower-than-expected turnouts may have prompted Narendra Modi to shift focus in his campaign speeches from the theme of development to accusing main rival Congress of planning to extend welfare benefits to Muslims at the expense of disadvantaged tribal groups and castes. Congress has denied making any such promise.
As the electoral juggernaut rolls on in West Bengal, the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections will witness high-profile contests in six of the eight constituencies. Among those in the fray are bigwigs like Congress' Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (Baharampur), TMC's Shatrughan Sinha (Asansol), Mahua Moitra (Krishnanagar) and Yusuf Pathan (Baharampur) as well as BJP's S S Ahluwalia (Asansol) and Dilip Ghosh (Bardhaman-Durgapur).
In Uttar Pradesh, the fourth phase is set to cover 13 parliamentary constituencies on Monday, with all eyes on key battlegrounds like Kannauj, where Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav is seeking re-election and Kheri from where federal minister Ajay Mishra is contesting.
The fourth phase will see voting completed in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Madhya Pradesh.
Other states which are going to polls today are Uttar Pradesh (13/80 seats), Maharashtra (11/48 seats), Madhya Pradesh (8/29 seats), West Bengal (8/42 seats), Bihar (5/40 seats), Jharkhand (4/14 seats), Odisha (4/21 seats) and Jammu and Kashmir.
So far, voting has concluded for all seats in the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Meghalaya, Assam, Manipur, Karnataka, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura; the Andaman and Nicobar islands; and the Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman, Diu, Lakshadweep and Puducherry union territories.
The fifth phase will kick off on May 20 and the sixth on May 25, before the election heads towards the seventh and final phase on June 1.
Comments