New Delhi: The fourth phase of India’s Lok Sabha elections slated for Monday cover 96 seats across 10 states and union territories.
This phase of the general elections will witness voter participation from all 25 seats in Andhra Pradesh, 17 constituencies in Telangana, along with 13 seats in Uttar Pradesh, 11 in Maharashtra, 8 in West Bengal, 8 in Madhya Pradesh, 5 each in Bihar and Jharkhand, 4 in Odisha, and one seat in Jammu and Kashmir.
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).
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).
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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.
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.
Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party National Convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will campaign across the country for the INDIA alliance party’s candidates.
Arvind Kejriwal will kick start his campaign for the opposition alliance party’s candidates from May 15, after completing his campaign in Delhi and Kurukshetra.
Addressing a press conference, AAP Convenor Arvind Kejriwal said, “I will go to Lucknow on May 15, Ranchi and Punjab on May 15 and Maharashtra on May 17.”
Kejriwal spent over 50 days in Tihar Jail after being arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in an excise policy case on March 21, days after the election schedule for the general elections was announced.The bail is applicable till June 1 and Kejriwal has to surrender to authorities on June 2.
The Delhi CM can participate in the poll campaigning but cannot attend his office as Chief Minister.
Delhi will vote on all 7 Parliamentary seats on May 25.
Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak further said Arvind Kejriwal is making every possible effort to ensure the victory of the INDIA alliance.
“Ever since Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal got interim bail from the Supreme Court, he has been continuously working for the people. Arvind Kejriwal is making every possible effort to ensure the victory of the INDIA alliance. All the constituents of the INDIA alliance want CM Arvind Kejriwal to come to their state and campaign for them. The popularity of Arvind Kejriwal is increasing rapidly throughout the country,” he said.
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