Voting for the seventh and final phase of 18th Lok Sabha elections in 57 parliamentary seats across eight States and Union Territories will be held on Saturday.

Prominent candidates from the BJP are Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Varanasi, UP), Union minister Anurag Thakur (Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh), Ravi Shankar Prasad (Patna Sahib, Bihar) and Kangana Ranaut (Mandi, Himachal Pradesh); while from the Congress is Manish Tewari (Chandigarh), Vikramaditya Singh (Mandi) and Ajay Rai (Varanasi).

Other prominent candidates are Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Misa Bharti (Pataliputra, Bihar) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Abhishek Banerjee (Diamond Harbour, West Bengal).

The polling is scheduled to begin at 7 am in 1.09 lakh polling stations amid tight security. These polling stations will be manned by around 10.9 lakh polling officials.

Of the 57 parliamentary seats going to polls in the seventh phase are 13 each from Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, nine from West Bengal, eight from Bihar, six from Odisha, four from Himachal Pradesh, three from Jharkhand and one from Chandigarh.

According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), more than 10.06 crore voters will decide the fate of 904 candidates who are in the fray in this phase.

Polling for the 42 Assembly constituencies in fourth and last phase of the Odisha Assembly will also take place simultaneously.

The poll panel has called upon voters to turn out in greater numbers at polling stations and vote with responsibility and pride.

The ECI also said the CEOs concerned and State machineries have been directed to take adequate measures to manage the adverse impact of hot weather or rainfall wherever predicted.

Assured minimum facilities like water, shed, toilets, ramps, volunteers, wheelchairs, and electricity are in place to ensure that every voter, including elderly and persons with disabilities, can cast their vote with ease, it said.

The Lok Sabha elections are being held in seven phases between 19th April and 1st June. The first phase of polling was held on 19th April, second phase on 26th April, third phase on 7th May, fourth phase on 13th May, fifth phase on 20th May and sixth phase on 25th May.

Voter turnouts in the first phase was recorded at 66.14 per cent, second phase (66.71 per cent), third phase (65.68 per cent), fourth phase (69.16 per cent), fifth phase 62.2 per cent and sixth phase 63.37 per cent.

Counting will take place on 4th June.