After a high-decibel campaign, the Lok Sabha elections will, on Monday, cross the halfway mark in its fourth phase of voting out of the seven-phase general elections, with 96 seats across 10 States and Union Territories going to the polls. This includes the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat in Kashmir, which will witness its first major election after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019. After Monday, 379 seats will have completed the polling.
The electoral fate of several prominent candidates like Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Union Minister Giriraj Singh, TMC’s firebrand leader Mahua Moitra, AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi, former cricketers Yusuf Pathan, Kirti Azad, Bollywood actor Shatrughan Sinha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Ajay Kumar Mishra Teni, Nityanand Rai, Madhvi Latha, Pankaja Munde, YS Sharmila, will be decided in the fourth phase. The BJP-led NDA has MPs from over 40 of these 96 seats.
According to the Election Commission, over 17.70 crore voters, including 8.97 crore male and 8.73 crore women will cast their vote for the 96 parliamentary constituencies in 10 States and Union Territory. Data showed over 19 lakh polling officials have been deputed across 1.92 lakh polling stations.
So far, voting has taken place in 285 constituencies since April 19. The voter turnout in the last phase stood at 64.4 per cent, which was the lowest compared to the preceding phases (66.14 per cent and 66.71 per cent respectively).
Uttar Pradesh recorded the lowest turnout, while Assam saw the highest.
The fourth phase voting will be held in all 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana, all 25 seats in Andhra Pradesh, 13 in Uttar Pradesh, five in Bihar, four in Jharkhand, eight in Madhya Pradesh, 11 in Maharashtra, four in Odisha, eight in West Bengal and one in Jammu and Kashmir. Additionally, this phase marks the commencement of polling in Jharkhand and Odisha.
According to the EC, the heatwave conditions are one of the reasons for lower voter turnout in the last three phases as compared to the 2019 parliamentary polls. Citing an India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast, the poll authority on Sunday said that “there is no significant concern regarding hot weather conditions for the polling in Phase 4”.
Keeping in mind the hot weather conditions and people’s reluctance to step out in the afternoon, the EC has increased poll timing in some Telangana seats. While the usual hours of voting are from 7 am to 6 pm, they are curtailed keeping in mind the terrain, time of sunset and security situation.
Voting will simultaneously be held in all 175 Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, which is witnessing a triangular contest involving ruling YSRC, the Congress-led INDIA Bloc and the NDA, comprising the BJP, Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP and Pawan Kalyan-led Jana Sena Party (JSP).
The run up to the fourth phase polling saw the EC and Opposition INDIA Bloc entering into a spat over delay in release of voter turnout data.
The poll body accused Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge of creating impediments in the conduct of free and fair elections and said Kharge’s allegations are unwarranted, without facts and ‘reflective of a biased and deliberate attempt to spread confusion’.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday addressed rallies in Barrackpore, Hooghly, Arambagh and Howrah, West Bengal and road shows in Patna.
The fourth phase also features a bit of glamour in the east of the country, where Bollywood veteran Shatrughan Sinha is seeking re-election in West Bengal’s Asansol, and to the south, where actress Maadhavi Latha from the BJP is standing for the Hyderabad seat in Telangana. Latha is pitted against Asaduddin Owaisi, a four-time MP from the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen party.
Two World Cup-winning cricketers will be testing the political pitch in Bengal. The 65-year-old former Indian cricketer Kirti Azad, who was part of the 1983 World Cup winning squad is contesting from Bardhaman-Durgapur Lok Sabha Constituency while Yusuf Pathan, 41-year-old former member of the Indian cricket team that won the World Cup in 2011, is testing political waters from Baharampur seat in Murshidabad against senior Congress Party leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who has been representing since 1999.
Yet, the most high-profile electoral battle in the State on May 13, is in Krishnanagar, where the fiery TMC parliamentarian and fierce critic of Modi, Mahua Moitra, is seeking a second term. In December 2023, the firebrand MP was expelled from parliament after being accused of accepting cash to ask questions.
The other seat that has attracted a lot of attention is Lakhimpur Kheri, where controversial federal Minister of Home Affairs Ajay Mishra Teni is seeking re-election. Mishra has been caught in a storm since his son Ashish Mishra allegedly ran his car over farmers protesting against now-repealed farm laws. Ashish is out on bail and farmers’ groups as well as activists have been demanding that Mishra be denied a ticket by the BJP.
Indore parliamentary seat will be another to watch in the fourth phase as the Congress candidate Akshay Kanti Bam withdrew from the race at the last minute, after the last date for candidates to file nominations had passed.
