An estimated 10.06 crore Indians are expected to cast their votes today in the last phase of voting in 57 constituencies spread across eight states and two union territories.
A total of 904 candidates, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, are in the fray in the seventh and final phase of voting which began on April 19.
Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is seeking a third term from the ancient city of Varanasi in eastern Uttar Pradesh, and his nearest challenger is Ajay Rai of Congress.
In a video message to Varanasi voters on the last day of campaigning on Thursday, Modi urged them to turn up at polling booths in record numbers.
Among other key candidates in the seventh phase are: senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad in Patna Sahib constituency in Bihar, Omar Abdullah of Jammu and Kashmir National Conference in Baramulla and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee in Diamond Harbour.
Nine Lok Sabha constituencies in Kolkata, its nearby suburbs, and the Sundarbans are going to the polls in the last phase of elections in West Bengal. Votes will be counted on June 4.
In Punjab, there will be battles for 13 seats between the state’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party and Congress despite the fact that the two parties had forged an alliance for taking on BJP for the seven seats in Delhi.
Once again, the focus in the last phase will be on the voter turnout. The turnout in the first six phases of polling was 66.14 percent, 66.71, 65.68, 69.16, 62.2 and 63.36 percent respectively.
Pollsters and political analysts differ on the possible outcome of the election, with lower voter turnout and urban voters’ apathy seen as risks for BJP. The saffron party and its allies won 352 in the last election in 2019 with BJP alone winning 303 seats.
