59 Lok Sabha Constituencies Will Vote On Sunday Ending the 7th Phase of Lok Sabha Elections for 543 Seats
AMID unabated poll related violence in West Bengal, campaign has ended for the last phase of the 7 phases Lok Sabha polling in 59 parliamentary constituencies spread across 7 states and Union Territory of Chandigarh on May 19 .The parliamentary constituencies are : Bihar (8), Jharkhand (3), Madhya Pradesh (8), Punjab (13), West Bengal (9), Chandigarh (1), Uttar Pradesh (13) and Himachal Pradesh (4).Haryana’s Faridabad constituency will witness re-polling the same day after a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) polling agent was arrested for allegedly trying to influence voters at a booth. CRPF has been deployed in West Bengal where all the 9 constituencies are tagged sensitive. Among these are Diamond Harbour and Dum Dum . From Diamond Harbour Abhishek Banerjee , TMCs supremo’s nephew and unofficially the party’s most influential leader after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, is seeking relection.An analyst says Dumdum Lok Sabha Constituency in North Kolkata is noted for scientific bogus voting. Prof Saugata Roy, 71, seeking re-election as TMC candidate. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah an Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Aditya Nath, Home Minister Rajnath Singh among other had campaigned for BJP in Bengal where Congress, Left and ruling TMC are contesting against each other .Prime Minister Modi is also among those in the fray. He is seeking re-election from Varanasi. There will be by-poll in Panaji necessitated due to the death of former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar in March. Campaigning in West Bengal ended 20 hours before the scheduled time on the orders of the Election Commission following violent incidents with BJP and ruling TMC blaming each other. The poll panel on Wednesday ordered campaigning in West Bengal constituencies to end at 10 pm on Thursday in the wake of violence in Kolkata during Amit Shah’s roadshow.The campaign was marked by attacks and counter-attacks by leaders across the political spectrum, and use of derogatory language and objectionable remarks forcing the Election Commission of India to intervene. Adequate security arrangements have been made to conduct free, fair and peaceful elections.BJP chief Amit Shah held a press conference in Delhi in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcing the NDA will come back to power with much bigger margin .He also highlighted the government’s achievements. Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi was by his side and made some opening remarks, he did not take any question saying he will not violate party code since the presser is conveyed by the BJP president. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi also addressed a press conference the same day hitting the BJP and the government of the state of affairs in the country. In Punjab, the high-octane poll campaigning witnessed blistering attacks by the Congress, the SAD-BJP and AAP with 1984 anti-Sikh riots and desecration of religious scriptures remains the central themes of the political narrative. The polling will decide the fate of SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, Sunny Deol, film star turned politico, Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar and Aam Aadmi Party’s Punjab unit chief Bhagwant Mann ,two Union ministers – Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Hardeep Singh Puri.Other important personalities involved in the keenly contested Lok Sabha elections are 10 BJP leaders, including Union minister Manoj Sinha, who is seeking re-election from Ghazipur, and Bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishan, who is trying to reclaim the saffron party’s stronghold Gorakhpur once represented by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Aditya Nath . The polls will also decide the fate of eight candidates of Samajwadi Party and five of Bahujan Samaj Party of the SP-BSP alliance, which is being perceived as giving a tough fight to the BJP in the State. The elections will also reveal up to what extent Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has been able to revive and strengthen India’s oldest political party in the country, especially UP, the Hindi heartland.
