The final phase of voting will conclude on June 1 when voters in 13 seats in Punjab, four in Himachal Pradesh, 13 in Uttar Pradesh, nine in West Bengal, eight in Bihar, six in Odisha, three in Jharkhand and the Union Territory of Chandigarh will cast their votes. Notably, PM Modi will be seeking a third consecutive term from the Varanasi constituency.
Among the 904 candidates vying for victory in the remaining 57 constituencies, several big names stand out, including Union Minister Anurag Thakur of the BJP in Hamirpur, Himachal, BJP’s Kangana Ranaut who is challenging Indian National Congress’ Vikramaditya Singh in Mandi constituency in Himachal, TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee in Diamond Harbour, Bengal, former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi in Jalandhar and SAD’s Harsimrat Kaur Badal in Bathinda, Punjab.
Moreover, BJP’s Ravi Kishan from Gorakhpur and his party colleague Ram Kripal Yadav are contesting against RJD patriarch Laloo Prasad’s daughter Misa Bharti in Pataliputra in Bihar and are among the strong candidates at this stage.
In the last six elections held between April 19 and May 25, voter turnout in 486 seats across 28 states and union territories ranged from 62.2% (fifth phase) to 69.16% (fourth phase).
