The third phase of Lok Sabha elections 2024, slated for Tuesday, May 7, will witness polling in 93 constituencies spanning across 11 states and union territories. In the previous Lok Sabha polls of 2019, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured a significant majority of these seats, including all constituencies in Gujarat, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh.
- There are more than 1,300 candidates running for office, about 120 of them are women. A total of 1.85 lakh polling places staffed by 18.5 lakh officials allow 17.24 crore people, including 8.39 crore women, to exercise their right to vote.
- With the BJP already clinching the Surat seat unopposed, polling will occur in various regions including Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Assam, West Bengal, Goa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, and Madhya Pradesh. Notably, voting will also take place in Betul, Madhya Pradesh, where elections were deferred.
- Over 11 crore people are expected to cast their ballots in these regions.
- Following the conclusion of the third phase, voting will have transpired for 283 out of 543 Lok Sabha seats. Subsequent phases are scheduled for May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1, with vote counting slated for June 4.
- In this phase, several key candidates are contesting, including Union ministers Amit Shah, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Mansukh Mandaviya, Parshottam Rupala, Pralhad Joshi, SP Singh Baghel, and Dimple Yadav, as well as Congress stalwart Digvijaya Singh. Prominent constituencies include Gandhinagar, Guna, Mainpuri, Baramati, and Rajgarh.
- Voting will commence at 7 am and conclude at 6 pm, with provisions for individuals already in queue at closing time to cast their votes.
- Reflecting on the 2019 outcomes, the BJP emerged victorious in the majority of contested seats, with notable exceptions.
- Furthermore, this phase marks the political debut of former India cricketer Yusuf Pathan, who is contesting from Baharampur.
- In Baramati, often recognized as the stronghold of the ‘Pawar family,’ a notable confrontation unfolds between the incumbent three-time MP Supriya Sule, daughter of NCP (SP) leader Sharad Pawar, and Sunetra Pawar, wife of Ajit Pawar, who has transitioned to the BJP-led NDA and currently serves as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
- The first two phases of the Lok Sabha polls saw a decline in voter turnout. Of the 102 seats that went to poll in the first phase on April 19, 66.14% of voters cast ballots, and 66.71% of voters cast ballots in the second phase on April 26, which included 88 seats.
However, voting for the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat in Jammu and Kashmir has been postponed to the sixth phase on May 25, originally scheduled for the third phase.
