Phase 3 Voting: 64.58% Turnout, Shah Among Contenders, Modi, Kharge Cast Vote; Bengal Sees Violence | Key Points

The third phase of the Lok Sabha elections has concluded, with a voter turnout of approximately 64.58 per cent, according to the Election Commission. Voting took place across 11 states and Union Territories, with Assam recording the highest turnout at 81.71 per cent and Uttar Pradesh the lowest at 57.34 per cent.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge were among the prominent figures who cast their votes, alongside Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was also a contestant.

In Phase 3, voting took place on 93 seats in Assam (4), Bihar (5), Chhattisgarh (7), Goa (2), Gujarat (26), Karnataka (14), Madhya Pradesh (8), Maharashtra (11), Uttar Pradesh (10), West Bengal (4), Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (2).

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 | KEY POINTS

• Voter Turnout In States/UTs In Third Phase

Assam - 81.71 per cent 

Bihar - 58.18 per cent 

Chhattisgarh - 71.06 per cent

Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu - 69.87 per cent 

Goa - 75.20 per cent 

Gujarat - 59.51 per cent

Karnataka - 70.41 per cent 

Madhya Pradesh - 66.05 per cent 

Maharashtra - 61.44 per cent 

Uttar Pradesh - 57.34 per cent 

West Bengal - 76.52 per cent

• Halfway Mark

Today's election brings to an end polling on more than half of the 543 parliamentary seats, potentially indicating a verdict from the country. The BJP has won the Surat seat unopposed, following the rejection of the Congress candidate's nomination and the withdrawal of other contenders.

The first two phases of elections were held on April 19 and 26. Overall, voting for 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases. The remaining phases will be held on May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1. The counting of votes for all seven phases of Lok Sabha Elections will take place on June 4.

Election FAQs Answered Here

• West Bengal Violence

Sporadic incidents of violence were reported in West Bengal, with clashes between TMC, BJP, and Congress-CPI(M) workers in four constituencies. All the parties lodged separate complaints to the EC over poll violence, voter intimidation, and assaults on poll agents, PTI news agency reported.

According to reports, 182 complaints were received by 9 am, most of which were from Murshidabad and Jangipur constituencies.

• Gujarat Congress Complaint

The Gujarat Congress filed complaints with the EC, alleging BJP agents used pens with party symbols, violating the Model Code of Conduct.

A video posted by Congress Gujarat showed polling agents and officers using pens with BJP symbols during voting.

• EC Notice To X

The ECI on Tuesday asked social media platform X to take down an animated video post by the BJP Karnataka handle that showed the Congress appeasing Muslims at the cost of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.

The EC wrote to X asking to take down the post “immediately”. The post was “violative of extant legal framework”, the EC wrote.

• Key Candidates

Key candidates in Phase 3 included BJP's Amit Shah from Gandhinagar, Jyotiraditya Scindia from Guna, Shivraj Singh Chouhan from Vidisha, Purushottam Rupala from Rajkot, Jagadish Shettar from Belgaum, Basavaraj Bommai from Haveri BY Raghavendra from Shivamogga.

From the Opposition, Samajwadi Party's Dimple Yadav was in fray from Mainpuri, Congress's Digvijaya Singh from Rajgarh, Geetha Shivarajkumar from Shivamogga, and Priyanka Jarikholi from Chikkodi.