Union Home Minister Amit Shah casted his vote in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, for the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections. Accompanied by his wife and son Jay Shah, he queued up at the polling booth located at the Sub-Zonal office near Kameshwar Mahadev Temple in the Naranpura area. He, along with his family, patiently awaited their turn to cast their votes.
Prior to voting, Amit Shah urged voters to fulfill their duty towards nation-building by participating in the electoral process. He emphasized the importance of selecting a government committed to public welfare, devoid of corruption, casteism, and dynastic politics, with a clear vision for India’s development. Shah underscored the significance of each vote, stating that it would shape the nation’s destiny for years to come.
Earlier in the morning, the Union Home Minister interacted with residents of a residential society in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Shah himself is contesting the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat, a stronghold of the party which has been represented by stalwarts like LK Advani. The Congress has fielded Sonal Patel as its candidate from Gandhinagar.
In a separate event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi cast his vote at Nishan Higher Secondary School in Ahmedabad for the same phase of the elections.
The third phase of polling covered 93 Lok Sabha seats across 12 states and union territories. These include Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. The BJP secured the Surat seat unopposed.
Over 1300 candidates, including approximately 120 women, contested in this phase, with 17.24 crore eligible voters across 1.85 lakh polling stations. International observers from 23 countries monitored the polling process.
Notably, voting for Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat was postponed to the sixth phase on May 25. Originally, it was scheduled for the third phase along with 94 other seats. Additionally, due to the demise of the BSP candidate in the Betul Lok Sabha seat of Madhya Pradesh, elections were rescheduled from the second to the third phase. With these adjustments, the total seats going to poll in this phase were 93.
In the 2019 general elections, the BJP secured victory in 72 out of the 93 seats contested in this phase. The Lok Sabha elections are being conducted in seven phases, spanning from April 19 to June 1, with counting scheduled for June 4.