Lok Sabha Election Phase 3: Voter Turnout 61% In 93 Seats; Bengal, Assam, Goa Lead

The next phase (phase 4) polling is scheduled on May 13 in 96 constituencies in 10 States/UTs. Andhra Pradesh will also hold its assembly elections simultaneously.

Polling in the third phase of Lok Sabha elections 2024 which commenced at 7 am today simultaneously across 93 parliamentary constituencies recorded an approximate voter turnout of 61.45% as of 8 pm, as per Election Commission. Though polling was till 6 pm, but voters were seen in the queue at many polling stations.

With the conclusion of Phase-3, polling is now over in 20 States/UTs and 283 seats. A total of 1,331 candidates were in the electoral fray in this phase.

Voter turnout in Assam and West Bengal remained good, while polling lagged in Maharashtra and Gujarat.

• Assam (4 out of 14 seats): 75%

• Bihar (5/40): 56.5%

• Chhattisgarh (7/11): 66.9%

• Goa (2/2): 74%

• Gujarat (25/26): 56.2%

• Karnataka (14/28): 66.8%

• Madhya Pradesh (8/29): 62.8%

• Maharashtra (11/48): 53.9%

• Uttar Pradesh (10/80): 57%

• West Bengal (4/42): 73.9%

• Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Daman and Diu (2/2): 65.2%

The overall voter turnout in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections across 93 seats is 61% as per provisional numbers released by the Election Commission. This compared to 66.9% in the 2019 election.

Polling in the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat of Jammu and Kashmir was deferred by the Election Commission of India last month after it agreed to demands of the BJP and other regional parties to delay the vote from May 7 to May 25 in the sixth phase of the ongoing election.

This deferment of the election in the hotly contested seat has sparked resentment among the two major regional parties: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the National Conference (NC).

The deferment was called due to various logistic, communication and natural barrier of connectivity turning out as hindrance in campaigning which may affect poll process, ECI said.

Election Commission has directed social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to take down animated video shared by Karnataka BJP on Muslim reservation row.

The video had drawn criticism as being communally charged, aimed at Muslims.

(Source: PTI)

Voter turnout in Assam and West Bengal remained good, while polling lagged in Maharashtra and Gujarat.

• Assam (4 out of 14 seats): 74.9%

• Bihar (5/40): 56%

• Chhattisgarh (7/11): 66.9%

• Goa (2/2): 72.5%

• Gujarat (25/26): 55.2%

• Karnataka (14/28): 66.1%

• Madhya Pradesh (8/29): 62.3%

• Maharashtra (11/48): 53.4%

• Uttar Pradesh (10/80): 55.1%

• West Bengal (4/42): 73.9%

• Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Daman and Diu (2/2): 65.2%

The overall voter turnout in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections across 94 seats is 60.2% as of 5.00 pm. This compared to 62.9% in the 2019 election.

Himanta Biswas Sarma, the Chief Minister of Assam, voted at the Barpeta Parliamentary Constituency, accompanied by his family.

Voting turnout across 11 states and Union Territories holding elections on Tuesday crossed 50% by 3:00 p.m. Assam and West Bengal had the highest turnout with 63.1% votes, followed by Goa at 61.4%. While the voting percentage at Chhattisgarh was at 58.2%, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu at 52.4%, Karnataka at 54.2%, and Madhya Pradesh at 54.1%.

While Gujarat, the state in highlight for the third phase lagged at 47%, followed by Maharashtra at 42.6%, Uttar Pradesh at 46.8% and Bihar at 46.7% votes.

The overall voter turnout in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections across 94 seats is 50.7%. This compared to 66.9% in the 2019 election.

Popularly called the 'Battle of Baramati', the Maharashtra seat will see Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule battle it out against her sister-in-law and Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar. Baramati has been long dominated by Sharad Pawar and his kin.

The once unbeatable stronghold faces unprecedented turmoil as Ajit Pawar, defying his familial ties, aligned with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena-BJP coalition.

Read here.

India's benchmark indices ended lower on Tuesday as heavyweights HDFC Bank Ltd. ICICI Bank Ltd., and Reliance Industries Ltd. declined. The benchmark NSE Nifty 50 index extended losses to a third session, while the S&P BSE Sensex reversed gains from Monday.

Intraday, the NSE Nifty 50 index declined 0.94% to 22,232.05 and the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.86% to 73,259.26.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is revving up for another round in the electoral ring, eyeing a second consecutive term from the crucial seat of Gandhinagar, previously ruled by BJP heavyweight LK Advani. Shah faces competition from Congress candidate Sonal Patel, an architect by profession and the All India Congress Committee secretary.

Will Shah secure another victory or will Patel's architectural expertise build a new political landscape? The BJP's winning streak since 1989 adds an extra layer of intrigue to this high-stakes battle.

Read here.

All candidates fielded by key regional parties in the third phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections have declared assets of at least Rs 1 crore. Overall, the polling on Tuesday will witness a contest where out of the 1,352 candidates in the fray, 392 are crorepatis, according to analysis by the non-profit Association for Democratic Reforms. The average asset per candidate in this round is Rs 5.66 crore.

• Pallavi Shrinivas Dempo, who is fighting the polls from South Goa on a BJP ticket, is the richest candidate with assets worth Rs 1,361 crore.

• Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Minister and Madhya Pradesh BJP heavyweight, is worth Rs 424 crore and is contesting from Guna.

• Chhatrapati Shahu Shahaji, the Congress candidate from Maharashtra's Kolhapur, is the third-richest candidate in phase 3 with a declared wealth of Rs 342 crore.

Tuesday's third round of voting brings to an end polling on more than half of the 543 parliamentary seats and could mean that the country has already delivered a verdict.

Voting in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur and Tripura ended in the first and second phase. Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Assam and Karnataka will finish their polling today.

Voting turnout across 11 states and Union Territories holding elections on Tuesday was 39.9% by 1:00 p.m. West Bengal had the highest turnout with 49.3%, followed by Goa at 49%, and Madhya Pradesh at 46.1%.

Voting turnout reached 25% by 11:00 a.m., with electorate in 11 states and Union Territories voting for 92 seats. West Bengal had the highest turnout with 32.8%, followed by Goa at 30.9%, and Madhya Pradesh at 30.2%.

Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani exercised his mandate in Ahmedabad.

"Today is the festival of democracy and I appeal to people to come out and vote. India is moving forward and will continue to do so," Adani said after casting his vote.

(With agency inputs)

NCP (SCP) chief Sharad Pawar casts his ballot in Baramati. The party has fielded Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule from the seat, while NCP has fielded Sunetra Pawar, wife of Ajit Pawar.

By 9:00 a.m., voter turnout across the 11 states and Union Territories holding polls on Tuesday stood at 10.5%. West Bengal led the tally with 14.6%, followed by 14.2% in Madhya Pradesh and 13.2% in Chhattisgarh.

Home Minister Amit Shah, son jay Shah and other family members cast their votes at a polling centre in Ahmedabad.

Shah is contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Gandhinagar. Congress has fielded party secretary Sonal Patel from the seat.

"Today is the third phase of voting... I appeal to the countrymen that they should vote in large numbers," said Narendra Modi after casting his ballot.

"India's electoral process is an example for democracies across the world... This year is like a celebration of democracy across the world... India is behind several innovations in elections. I commend the Election Commission for this," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at the Nishan Vidyalaya voting centre in Ahmedabad to cast his vote. He is joined by Home Minister Amit Shah.

Projections of heatwave conditions in parts of northern Karnataka and warmer temperatures in Gujarat and parts of southern Maharashtra raise concerns over voter turnout in areas where the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections will be conducted on Tuesday.

The 14 segments in Karnataka where polling is set to take place on May 7 are Chikkodi, Belagavi, Bagalkot, Vijayapura, Kalaburagi, Raichur, Bidar, Koppal, Ballari, Haveri, Dharwad, Uttara Kannada, Davanagere and Shivamogga. It will see a contest among a total of 227 candidates.

Read the full story here.

Ahead of voting for the third phase of Lok Sabha elections, the Election Commission ordered political parties Monday to remove fake content from their social media platforms within three hours of it being flagged.

The direction comes in the wake of deepfake videos featuring Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and actors Aamir Khan and Ranveer Singh surfaced on social media platforms. These videos were taken down and criminal complaints were filed.

(Source: PTI)

Polling began across 92 seats in 11 states and Union Territories on Tuesday as the Lok Sabha Election approached its midway mark. With Surat going to BJP unopposed, 25 seats in Gujarat will go to polls on May 7. Voting will be held on eleven seats in Maharashtra, 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh, the remaining 14 of the 28 in Karnataka, seven in Chhattisgarh, eight in Madhya Pradesh, five in Bihar, four each in Assam and West Bengal, and all two in Goa. The Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (two seats) will also go to polls in the third phase.

Election in the Anatnag-Rajouri seat has been postponed to the sixth phase due to logistic reasons.

The third phase will see over 1,300 candidates, including around 120 women, contest for a seat in the Lok Sabha. Political heavyweights like Union ministers Amit Shah (Gandhinagar),  Jyotiraditya Scindia (Guna), Mansukh Mandaviya (Porbandar), Parshottam Rupala (Rajkot), Pralhad Joshi (Dharwad) and SP Singh Baghel (Agra) are in the fray this phase.

(With PTI inputs)