The campaigning for the third phase of the Lok Sabha (LS) elections that saw leaders of the BJP and the Opposition INDIA bloc leaving no stone unturned to woo voters in their favour, came to an end on Sunday evening.
The polling for the third phase in 94 parliamentary constituencies (PCs) spread across 12 states/Union territories (UT), along with the Betul seat, will be held on Tuesday (May 7).
The states/UTs that come under the third phase are Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Goa, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.
In all, 1,351 candidates are in the fray in the third phase. Prominent among the candidates from the BJP are Union Ministers are Amit Shah, Jyotiraditya Scindia, and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, while from Congress is former Madhya Pradesh CM Digvijaya Singh.
Shah is BJP’s nominee from Gandhinagar (Gujarat) seat, Scindia from Guna (Madhya Pradesh), Chouhan from Vidisha seat, and Singh from Rajgarh seat.
Other key contenders in the poll fray are wife of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Dimple Yadav from Mainpuri (Uttar Pradesh) parliamentary constituency, and All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief Badruddin Ajmal from Dhubri (Assam) seat.
The campaign was marked by a war of words between the BJP and the Congress over the grand old party’s manifesto ‘Nyay Patra’ with Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling Rahul Gandhi as Shehzada’ (prince). Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi countered PM Modi’s jibe calling him ‘Shahenshah’ (emperor), who lives in palaces.
The general elections are being held in seven phases between 19 April and 1 June. The first phase of polling was held on 19 April, and second on 26th April. The first phase recorded 66.14 per cent voter turnout while the second 66.71 per cent. The results will be declared on 4th June.