The Election Commission of India (ECI) said on Wednesday that 904 candidates would contest elections in 57 parliamentary constituencies spread across eight states and Union territories (UTs) in the seventh phase of Lok Sabha polls, scheduled to be held on 1st June.
The poll panel, in a communiqué, said, “904 candidates from eight States/UTs to contest elections in the seventh phase of Lok Sabha elections scheduled for polling on 1st June.”
“A total of 2,105 nominations were filed for 57 PCs across eight States/UTs going for polls in the seventh phase. After the scrutiny of all nominations filed, 954 nominations were found to be valid,” it said.
The ECI said for the seventh phase, Punjab had a maximum of 598 nomination forms from 13 parliamentary seats, followed by Uttar Pradesh with 495 nominations from 13 constituencies.
The Jahanabad parliamentary seat in Bihar received a maximum of 73 nomination forms followed by Ludhiana in Punjab with 70 nomination forms. The average number of candidates contesting a parliamentary constituency for the seventh phase is 16, it said.
The states/UTs in the seventh phase polls included Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Punjab, West Bengal and Chandigarh.
Of the 57 parliamentary seats, 13 each are 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.
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 and fifth phase on 20th May. The first phase recorded 66.14 percent voter turnout, second 66.71 percent, third 65.68 per cent, fourth 69.16 per cent and fifth phase 62.20 per cent.
The sixth phase of voting is scheduled to take place on 25th May. The results will be declared on 4th June.