The Election Commission on Friday said 1,717 candidates are in the fray for the fourth phase of Lok Sabha polls scheduled to be held on May 13.
In a statement, it said, “A total of 1,717 candidates from 10 states/Union territories (UTs) to contest in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha election.”
According to the Election Commission (EC), a total of 4,264 nominations were filed for 96 parliamentary constituencies (PCs) across 10 states/UTs going for polls in the fourth phase.
After the scrutiny of all nominations filed, 1,970 nominations were found to be valid, it said.
“In the fourth phase, Telangana has a maximum of 1,488 nomination forms from 17 PCs, followed by Andhra Pradesh with 1,103 nominations from 25 PCs. Malkajgiri parliamentary seat in Telangana received a maximum of 177 nomination forms followed by Nalgonda and Bhongir in the same state with 114 nomination forms each,” it said.
The poll panel said the average number of contesting candidates in a PC for fourth phase is 18.
In the fourth phase, polling in the 96 PCs will take place on 13th May.
The states/UTs included in the fourth phase are Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir.
The general elections are being held in seven phases between 19th April and 1st June. The first phase of polling was held on 19th April and second phase on 26th April. The results will be declared on 4th June.