Lok Sabha polls 2024 phase 3: Key fights, family feud, cricketer’s debut | 10 things to know

Polling in 93 constituencies spread across 11 states and union territories will be held in the third phase of Lok Sabha elections 2024 on Tuesday, May 7.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party had won an overwhelming majority of these seats, including all in Gujarat, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

More 1,300 candidates, including around 120 women, are in the fray. As many as 17.24 crore people, including 8.39 crore females, will be eligible to cast their votes and 1.85 lakh polling stations manned by 18.5 lakh officials have been set up.

With the BJP securing Surat unopposed, 25 seats in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat will go to polls on May 7, besides 11 seats in Maharashtra, 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh, the remaining 14 of the 28 in Karnataka, seven in Chhattisgarh, five in Bihar, four each in Assam and West Bengal, and all two in Goa. The union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (2 seats) and nine seats in Madhya Pradesh, including Betul where elections were deferred, will also go to polls on Tuesday and over 11 crore people will be eligible to vote.

After the third phase, voting will be completed in 283 out of 243 seats in Lok Saba. The next four phases will be on May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1. The counting of votes will held on June 4.

Lok Sabha elections Phase 3: Here are 10 things to know

Key candidates: Among the bigwigs are Union ministers Amit Shah (Gandhinagar in Gujarat), Jyotiraditya Scindia (Guna in Madhya Pradesh), Mansukh Mandaviya (Porbandar in Gujarat), Parshottam Rupala (Rajkot in Gujarat), Pralhad Joshi (Dharwad in Karnataka), SP Singh Baghel (Agra in Uttar Pradesh), Dimple Yadav (Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh and Supriya Sule (Baramati in Maharashtra).

Big fights: Union home minister Amit Shah of the BJP is contesting against Congress’s Sonal Patel in Gandhinagar. Amit Shah is seeking re-election after securing approximately 9 lakh votes and a vote share of 69.67 per cent in the 2019 elections.

Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia is representing the BJP and facing off against Congress candidate Rao Yadavendra Singh Yadav from Madhya Pradesh’s Guna. BJP’s Krishna Pal Singh Yadav had clinched victory with over 6.14 lakh votes and a vote share of 52.11 per cent in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Dimple Yadav, the incumbent Samajwadi Party MP, is contesting against Uttar Pradesh minister Jaiveer Singh to maintain her family’s stronghold in Mainpuri. In 2019, Mulayam Singh Yadav secured victory with over 5.2 lakh votes and a vote share of 53.75 per cent, followed by Dimple Yadav’s triumph in the 2022 by-election with approximately 6.2 lakh votes and a vote share of 64.08 per cent.

The Pawar family’s stronghold Baramati faces a test of voter loyalty in the this election. Ajit Pawar-led NCP has nominated his wife Sunetra Pawar, while veteran leader Sharad Pawar-led NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) is banking on daughter Supriya Sule, who seeks a fourth term. In 2019, Supriya Sule emerged victorious with over 6.86 lakh votes and a vote share of 52.63 per cent.

Congress stalwart Digvijaya Singh is embarking on his final electoral journey from Rajgarh in Madhya Pradesh, challenging incumbent MP Rodmal Nagar. In the 2019 elections, Nagar secured victory for the second time with over 8.23 lakh votes and a vote share of 65.37 per cent.

When does the voting start and end? Voting will start at 7am and end at 6pm. Voters already in the queue by the time polls close will be able to cast their votes even if that means keeping polling stations open longer.

What happened in 2019 on these seats? Overall, across the 93 seats going to the polls on Tuesday, the 2019 outcome is not possible to calculate 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 the TMC and SP – which are part of the INDIA bloc– 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.
Key constituencies: Dhubri and Gauhati in Assam, Araria and Madhepura in Bihar, Durg, Bilaspur, Raipur in Chhattisgarh, Gandhinagar, Rajkot, Porbandar, Jamnagar, Junagadh Kachchh, Gandhinagar and Vadodara in Gujarat, Dharwad, Shimoga, Chikkodi and Belgaum in Karnataka, Vidisha, Bhind and Guna in Madhya Pradesh, Baramati, Dharashiv, Solapur (SC) Raigad and Kolhapur in Maharashtra, Fatehpur Sikri and Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh, Jangipur and Murshidabad West in Bengal.

PM Narendra Modi to cast vote in Ahmedabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will cast his vote at Nishan Higher Secondary School in Ahmedabad in the third phase of Lok Sabha polls.

Turnout in phase 1 and phase 2: The voter turnout saw a dip in the firsttwo phases of the Lok Sabha polls, Voting percentage for the 102 seats that went to poll in the first phase on April 19 was 66.14% and for the second phase on April 26, in which 88 seats voted, was 66.71%.

Yusuf Pathan’s political debut: Known for his explosive batting and ability to win matches single-handedly, 42-year-old former India cricketer Yusuf Pathan is making his political debut this election. The Trinamool Congres has fielded Yusuf Pathan against Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury from Baharampur.

Family feud in Baramati: Baramati, known as the bastion of the ‘Pawar family’, is witnessing a direct contest between three-time sitting MP Supriya Sule, the daughter of NCP (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar and Sunetra Pawar, the wife of Ajit Pawar, who has switched over to the BJP-led NDA and became Maharashtra deputy chief minister.

No voting in Anantnag-Rajouri today: Voting will not take place for Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat on Tuesday as the Election Commission of India (ECI) has postponed the polling to the sixth phase to be held on May 25. Originally, voting was scheduled to be held on 94 Lok Sabha seats in the third phase.