Voting kicked off at 7 am in 93 constituencies spread over 11 states and Union Territories on Tuesday in the third phase of the Lok Sabha polls.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the voters in the third phase of Lok Sabha elections 2024 on Tuesday, May 7, and exercised his franchise at a polling booth in Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency of Gujarat. Home Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah, who is among the contenders in the third phase, also cast his vote at a polling booth in Gujarat's Ahmedabad.
Voting kicked off at 7 am in 93 constituencies spread over 11 states and Union Territories on Tuesday in the third phase of the Lok Sabha polls. Follow Phase 3 Voting LIVE Updates
In a post on X, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to vote in record numbers and said their active participation will make the election more vibrant.'
As per the original Election Commission schedule, 94 constituencies were to go to polls in the third phase, however, recent developments have changed the figures.
Voting for Jammu and Kashmir's Anant-Rajouri seat, which was to happen in the third phase, has been postponed to May 25 by the EC, citing "adverse weather".
The BJP has already won unopposed Gujarat's Surat seat, which was scheduled to go to polls in the third phase. Meanwhile, polling in Madhya Pradesh's Betul, which was to be held in the second phase on April 26, is being held in the third phase on May 7.
Amit Shah, who is contesting to retain the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat, greeted his supporters, interacted with them and signed autographs at the polling booth. The senior BJP leader was accompanied by his wife Sonal Shah, son Jay Shah other family members as they exercised their franchise.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel also cast his vote at a polling booth in Ahmedabad and appealed to the people to exercise their franchise to make the country developed and prosperous.
Polling is being held in 25 of the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, and for bypolls in five assembly constituencies in the state.
Over 1,300 candidates, including around 120 women, are in the fray in the third phase. Apart from Amit Shah, Jyotiraditya Scindia (Guna), Mansukh Mandaviya (Porbandar), Parshottam Rupala (Rajkot), Pralhad Joshi (Dharwad) and SP Singh Baghel (Agra) are also among the bigwigs in fray in the third phase.
Polling is being held in 11 seats in Maharashtra, 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh, the remaining 14 of the 28 in Karnataka, seven in Chhattisgarh, five in Bihar, four each in Assam and West Bengal, and all two in Goa.
Polling is also underway in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (2 seats) and nine seats in Madhya Pradesh, including Betul where elections were deferred,
Voting was completed in 189 seats out of 543 seats in the first two phases. The next four phases will be on May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1. The counting of votes is on June 4.