Polling has begun for the seventh and last phase of Lok Sabha elections. Voting, which began at 7 AM, will end at 6 PM. Polling in this phase is taking place for 59 constituencies, spread over 7 states and one union territory.
Voting is taking place for 13 seats each in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, nine in West Bengal, eight seats each in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, all four constituencies of Himachal Pradesh; three in Jharkhand and the lone seat of Chandigarh.
In West Bengal voting for 9 Lok Sabha seats have begun amidst tight security this morning.
In Bihar amidst tight security arrangements polling is underway from 7 this morning in eight constituencies -Nalanda, Patna Sahib, Patliputra, Ara, Buxar, Sasaram, Karakat and Jahanabad.
Polling time in ten Naxal affected assembly segments of Patliputra, Sasaram and Karakat will be from 7 am to 4 pm. In other places, polling time will be up to 6 pm. Over one crore 52 lakh voters will decide political fortune of 157 candidates including 20 women.
In Madhya Pradesh, polling is progressing peacefully for 8 Lok Sabha seats. Polling is underway in more than 18 thousand polling booths in eight constituencies of the state Indore, Ujjain, Dhar, Ratlam, Mandsaur, Dewas, Khargone and Khandwa.
In Himachal Pradesh polling is underway for four Lokssbha seats for which 45 candidates are in the fray.
Prominent candidates in this phase include Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and union ministers – Manoj Sinha, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Hardeep Singh Puri.
The fate of Mahendra Nath Pandey, Kirron Kher, Sunny Deol and Ravi Kishan of BJP, Sukhbir Badal of Shiromani Akali Dal, Meira Kumar and Shatrughan Sinha of Congress and Shibu Soren of JMM will also be decided in this phase.
Elaborate arrangements have been made to ensure free, fair and peaceful polling.
