Voting for the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections commenced on Monday at 7:00 am in 96 Parliamentary Constituencies spread across nine states and one Union Territory. Simultaneously, polling also began for all 175 seats of the State Legislative Assembly of Andhra Pradesh and 28 seats of the State Legislative Assembly of Odisha.
Among the 96 Lok Sabha seats, Andhra Pradesh has 25, Telangana has 17, Uttar Pradesh has 13, Maharashtra has 11, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal have eight each, Bihar has five, Jharkhand and Odisha have four each, and Jammu and Kashmir has one seat.
The Election Commission of India announced that a total of 1,717 candidates from 10 States/UTs will contest elections in phase 4 of the Lok Sabha polls, with 4,264 nominations filed for the 96 parliamentary constituencies.
Telangana led with the highest number of nomination forms (1488), followed by Andhra Pradesh with 1103 nominations for 25 constituencies. Malkajgiri Parliamentary Constituency in Telangana received the maximum of 177 nomination forms, followed by 13-Nalgonda and 14-Bhongir with 114 nomination forms each.
Several prominent leaders are contesting in the fourth phase, including Asaduddin Owaisi, Akhilesh Yadav, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Mahua Moitra, Giriraj Singh, Rajiv Ranjan Singh (Lalan Singh), Shatrughan Sinha, Yusuf Pathan, Arjun Munda, Madhavi Latha, and YS Sharmila.
#WATCH | Telangana: BJP candidate from Hyderabad, Madhavi Latha casts her vote at a polling booth in the constituency.
She faces sitting MP and AIMIM candidate Asaduddin Owaisi and BRS’ Gaddam Srinivas Yadav here. #LokSabhaElections2024 pic.twitter.com/E7sMVEZOrj
— ANI (@ANI) May 13, 2024
Key Lok Sabha seats where voting is underway include Baharampur, Hyderabad, Krishnanagar, Begusarai, Munger, Srinagar, Asansol, Kannauj, Kadapa, and Khunti. The Election Commission extended polling time in certain assembly segments of 17 Parliamentary Constituencies of Telangana from 7 am to 6 pm to boost voter participation.
According to the IMD forecast, there are no significant concerns regarding hot weather conditions for the polling in phase 4. The weather forecast indicates normal to below-normal temperatures, ensuring no heat wave-like conditions. However, arrangements have been made at all polling stations for voters’ convenience, including facilities like water, shade, and fans.
Till phase 3 of the Lok Sabha polls, polling has concluded smoothly and peacefully in 283 Lok Sabha seats.
