Fate of 961 candidates will be decided by about 12.79 core voters in fourth phase. Incidents of violence were reported from Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, while technical glitches delayed polling in Bihar and Odisha.
The fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections kicks off in 71 parliamentary constituencies across nine states on Monday. The first two hours of polling marked sporadic incidents of violence in West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh.
Polling is underway in Rajasthan (13), Uttar Pradesh (13), West Bengal (8), Madhya Pradesh (6), Bihar (5), and Jharkhand (3). Besides, voting is on in part of Anantnag constituency in Jammu and Kashmir. With this phase, election will come to an end in Maharashtra (17) and Odisha (6).
Clashes broke out in Bengal’s Asansol where Union Minister Babul Supriyo’s vehicle was vandalised outside a polling station. Also, an independent candidate in Madhya Pradesh’s Balaghat Lok Sabha seat alleged that his vehicle was blazed by Naxals. A case has been registered by the police and the state election office is probing the matter.
The key contestants in the fray are Congress’s Urmila Matondkar, Salman Khurshid, and Milind Deora. Besides, Kanhaiya Kumar of CPI and Baijayant Panda of BJP will also lock their fate today. Meanwhile, Dimple Yadav of Samajwadi Party is seeking re-election from Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh.
The perfume capital of India, Uttar Pradesh, is seeing a direct contest between the BJP and SP-BSP alliance. Bihar’s Begusarai is grabbing attention for the contest between former student leader Kanhaiya Kumar and Union Minister Giriraj Singh.
Star candidates seeking for Lok Sabha seats include Union minister Giriraj Singh, Subhash Bhamre, SS Ahluwalia, and Sudarshan Bhagat. Former Union ministers Salman Khurshid, PP Chaudhary, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury are also among the contestants.
According to the website of Election Commission of India, 10.36% of voters have exercised their franchise till 10 am. The last three phases of Lok Sabha elections will be conducted in 168 constituencies.