A total of 889 candidates are in the fray from the 58 Lok Sabha constituencies in this phase…reports Asian Lite News
Campaigning ended for the sixth phase of Lok Sabha elections on Thursday in which 58 constituencies spread across eight states and a UT will go to the polls on Saturday.
Voting will take place on all seven Lok Sabha seats of Delhi and Haryana which BJP clean-sweeped in the 2019 polls. Like other phases, this round of elections will also see some key contests across states.
A total of 889 candidates are in the fray from the 58 Lok Sabha constituencies in this phase.
The sixth phase includes eight seats in Bihar, all 10 seats in Haryana, one seat in Jammu and Kashmir, four in Jharkhand, all seven seats in Delhi, six in Odisha, 14 in Uttar Pradesh and eight in West Bengal.
Forty-two assembly constituencies in Odisha are also going for polls in the third phase of Assembly elections being held in the state simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections on May 25.
Some of the key seats in this phase include New Delhi, North-East Delhi, North-West Delhi and Chandni Chowk in the national capital and Sultanpur and Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh.
Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag-Rajouri, West Bengal’s Tamluk, Medinipur, Haryana’s Karnal, Kurukshetra, Gurgaon, Rohtak and Odisha’s Bhubaneswar, Puri and Sambalpur are some of the other key seats.
Some of the prominent candidates in the fray include BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti and former union minister Maneka Gandhi and former Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
Bansuri Swaraj, Somnath Bharti, Manoj Tiwari, Kanhaiya Kumar, Dinesh Lal Yadav alias ‘Nirahua’, Dharmendra Yadav, Abhijit Gangopadhyay, Agnimitra Paul, Naveen Jindal, Raj Babbar, Deepender Singh Hooda, Kumari Selja and Aparajita Sarangia are among other prominent candidates in the fray.
Stakes are high for BJP as also for Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and other constituents of INDIA bloc in this phase of election.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court till June 1 after he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in the excise policy case.
The general elections are being held across seven phases. The first five phases were held on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13 and May 20 while the subsequent phases are scheduled on May 25, and June 1. Votes will be counted on June 4.
While the Bharatiya Janata Party, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is seeking a third straight term in power, the Opposition INDIA bloc is aiming to form its government at the Centre.
High-pitched campaign ends in Bengal
Campaigning for the eight Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal that will go to the polls in the sixth phase on May 25 concluded on Thursday amid reports of pre-poll violence in Nandigram under the Tamluk parliamentary constituency.
The violence erupted there after a woman BJP worker, Rotibala Ari, was killed and seven other party workers were injured following an attack by unknown assailants allegedly having links with the ruling Trinamool Congress.
The incident triggered widespread protests in Nandigram by the local people, who blocked roads and burnt tyres. Several shops were also set on fire in the area, prompting the police to resort to lathi charge to bring the situation under control.
The eight Lok Sabha seats where polling will be held on Saturday include Bankura, Bishnipur, Purulia, Kanti, Tamluk, Medinipur, Ghatal, and Jhargram.
On the last day of campaigning on Thursday, the leader of opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, called Trinamool’s sitting MP who has been renominated from Ghatal, actor-politician Deepak Adhikari a.k.a. Dev, a beneficiary of the alleged cattle smuggling scam in the state.
Dev later countered the charge and warned Adhikari not to take his courtesy towards the opposition as his weakness.
Barring a roadshow and an election meeting by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata, there were no high-profile campaign events scheduled in Bengal on Thursday.
23 candidates in fray in Gurugram
Campaign for the sixth phase of Lok Sabha elections will end on Thursday by 6.00 pm in Gurugram.
Among the 10 parliamentary constituencies of Haryana going to the polls in the sixth phase, Gurugram has garnered a fair share of the limelight as it is among the biggest economic centres of the country.
A total of 23 candidates are in the fray for the Gurugram Lok Sabha seat.
Five candidates from major parties candidates include Rao Inderjit Singh, contesting on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket, Raj Babbar from Congress, Rahul Yadav a.k.a Fazilpuria from Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), Vijay Kumar from Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), and Sorab Khan from the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).
The Gurugram Lok Sabha seat will witness a triangular contest with 5-time incumbent Rao Inderjit Singh, Raj Babbar and Haryanvi singer Rahul Yadav as the main contenders.
The BJP candidate has won the Gurgaon Lok Sabha seat for a record five times while Babbar has been a three-time Lok Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh. This is the debut election of singer Fazilpuria.