Indian Lok Sabha Elections Phase 7: 57 seats up for grabs in final stretch of fierce battle for 2024 | 10 Points | Latest News

The final phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections is scheduled for Saturday. Voting in the seventh phase will begin at 7 am in 57 constituencies across eight states and union territories. In addition, voting will take place simultaneously in 42 assembly constituencies in Odisha. The seventh phase of the Lok Sabha elections will see voting in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and Punjab. See also: Lok Sabha Elections 2024 Phase 7: Polling Dates, Constituency/Seat List, Key Candidates | Full ScheduleHere are 10 things you need to know about the final stages of the mega election campaign. 1. According to the Election Commission, 160 million voters will exercise their franchise in 1.09 lakh polling states. The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is confident of over 400 votes in the 543-seat Lok Sabha. 2. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his third consecutive term in office, is contesting from Varanasi in this phase. He had defeated party chief Arvind Kejriwal Ahmed in 2014 and Samajwadi Party’s Shalini Yadav in the 2019 elections. This time, Modi is being challenged by Uttar Pradesh Congress leader Ajay Rai, who also contested against him in the previous two elections. See also: 57 seats, over 100 million voters: 7th Lok Sabha elections in numbers3. In Uttar Pradesh, 13 constituencies will vote. Besides PM Modi, other high profile candidates include Union Minister Anupriya Patel (Mirzapur), Union Minister Pankaj Chaudhary (Maharajganj) and Union Minister Ravi Kishan (Gorakhpur). 4. In Bihar, eight constituencies will vote in the seventh phase. Prominent candidates include Laloo Prasad’s daughter Misa Bharti (Pataliputra constituency), former Union Minister and BJP leader Ravishankar Prasad (Patna Sahib constituency), Upendra Kushwaha (Karakat constituency) and Bollywood actor Pawan Singh (Karakat constituency).

5. Punjab will vote in all 13 constituencies on Saturday. The Union, Indian National Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party are contesting separately. The Shiromani Akali Dal and Bharatiya Janata Party are also contesting separately. The main candidates are Preneet Kaur (Patiala), former Indian Prime Minister Charanjit Channi (Jalandhar) and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal (Bhatinda). 6. Another state attracting attention in this election is Himachal Pradesh, mainly due to the entry of actor and politician Kangana Ranaut into the race. The National Award-winning actor is a Bharatiya Janata Party representative from Mandi and is contesting against Indian National Congress leader Vikramaditya Singh. Union Minister Anurag Thakur is seeking a fifth term from Hamirpur, while senior BJP leader Anand Sharma is contesting from Kangra. 7. At least nine constituencies in West Bengal are in the final stages of voting. Basirhat constituency has attracted much attention due to the BJP fielding Sandeshkari rape case complainant Rekha Patra. The BJP has fielded veteran Haji Nurul Islam. Several TMC strongmen are in the fray, including Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee (Diamond Harbour), Saugata Roy (Dum Dum), Sudip Bandopadhyay (Kolkata Uttar) and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar (Barasat).

8. The Election Commission said 13 special trains and eight helicopters (for Himachal Pradesh) have been deployed to transport polling stations and security personnel. 9. The Election Commission added that a total of 2,707 flying squads, 2,799 static surveillance teams, 1,080 monitoring teams and 560 video surveillance teams are keeping watch round the clock to take strict and prompt action against any form of voter inducement. 10. The Election Commission reiterated its instructions not to release exit poll results for at least 30 minutes after the conclusion of voting in all states and union territories. (As per official inputs)