As many as 116 parliamentary constituencies will go for polls tomorrow across 13 states and two Union Territories in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
While some Lok Sabha constituencies of Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal will witness voting, all parliamentary constituencies in Gujarat, Kerala, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Goa and Daman and Diu will vote in a single phase.
Voting will take place for all 26 constituencies in Gujarat, all 20 seats in Kerala, 14 each in Maharashtra and Karnataka, 10 in Uttar Pradesh, seven in Chhattisgarh, six in Odisha, five each in Bihar and West Bengal, four in Assam, two in Goa, one each in Jammu and Kashmir, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu and Tripura.
Among the top contenders are Congress president Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad (Kerala), BJP president Amit Shah from Gandhinagar (Gujarat), BJP's Jaya Prada and SP's Azam Khan from Rampur (Uttar Pradesh), SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav from Mainpuri (Uttar Pradesh), Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) president Sharad Yadav from Madhepura (Bihar), Congress leader Shashi Tharoor from Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), Congress' Ghulam Ahmad Mir and PDP's Mehbooba Mufti from Anantnag (Jammu and Kashmir) and BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra from Puri (Odisha) among others.
In Gujarat, over four crore voters will decide the fate of 371 candidates in fray for 26 Lok Sabha constituencies and 45 candidates for by-polls in four Assembly seats.
Besides Gandhinagar, polling will be held in Kachchh, Banaskantha, Patan, Mahesana, Sabarkantha, Ahmedabad East, Ahmedabad West, Surendranagar, Rajkot, Porbandar, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Amreli, Bhavnagar, Anand, Kheda, Panchmahal, Dahod, Vadodara, Chhota Udaipur, Bharuch, Bardoli, Surat, Navsari and Valsad.
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In Uttar Pradesh, elections will be held in Moradabad, Rampur, Sambhal, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etah, Badaun, Aonla, Bareilly and Pilibhit. There are 120 candidates, including 14 women, in the fray while more than 1.76 crore people are expected to cast their vote.
In Kerala, as many as 227 candidates will contest on all the 20 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Wayanad is considered the main focus as Rahul Gandhi is contesting from this seat for the first time. He is in the fray with 19 other candidates.
Besides Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, elections will be held in Kasaragod, Kannur, Kollam, Attingal, Thiruvananthapuram, Vadakara, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Ponnani, Palakkad, Alanthur, Thrissur, Chalakudy, Ernakulam, Idukki, Kottayam, Alappuzha, Mavelikkara and Pathanamthitta.
In Chhattisgarh, 123 candidates will be testing their electoral fortunes from seven Lok Sabha constituencies - Raipur, Raigarh, Surguja, Janjgir-Champa, Korba, Bilaspur and Durg.
Jhanjharpur, Supaul, Araria, Madhepura and Khagaria Lok Sabha constituencies will go for polls tomorrow in Bihar.
Mehbooba, who won from Anantnag seat in Jammu and Kashmir, would be eyeing another win this time. She is in contention with Ghulam Ahmad Mir of the Congress and National Conference's new entrant Hasnain Masoodi.
In Maharashtra, the fate of as many as 249 candidates will be decided during voting on 14 Lok Sabha seats in the third phase. BJP is contesting in the state in alliance with Shiv Sena, while they face a tough battle from Congress and Sharad Pawar-led NCP.
Among the Lok Sabha constituencies going for polls are Jalgaon, Raver, Jalna, Aurangabad, Ahmednagar, Madha, Sangli, Raigad, Pune, Baramati, Satara, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Kolhapur and Hatkanangle.
In Karnataka, meanwhile, 14 Lok Sabha seats will go for polls including Chikkodi, Bidar, Koppal, Bellary, Haveri, Dharwad, Uttara Kannada, Davanagere, Shimoga, Belgaum, Bagalkot, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Raichur. Over 2.43 crore voters are eligible to cast their vote in this phase in the state.
In Odisha, six Lok Sabha seats and 42 assembly constituencies will go to polls in this phase. Lok Sabha seats going for polls are Sambalpur, Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Cuttack, Puri and Bhubaneswar.
West Bengal will witness voting in five Lok Sabha constituencies in the third phase. These include Balurghat, Maldaha Uttar, Maldaha Dakshin, Jangipur and Murshidabad.
In Assam, 74 lakh voters will decide the fate of 54 candidates in the third phase, which will cover Guwahati, Barpeta, Dhubri and Kokrajhar parliamentary constituencies.
Polling on two Lok Sabha constituencies and by-polls in three Assembly seats will be held in the third phase in Goa. Twelve candidates are in the fray for the two Lok Sabha constituencies, North Goa and South Goa.
Besides these states, polling will also be held in one seat each in Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
Election to Tripura East Lok Sabha constituency will also be held tomorrow. The polling in East Tripura constituency was deferred from April 18 to April 23 on inputs received that the "law and order prevailing in the constituency is not conducive to the holding of free and fair poll," the Election Commission said.
The seven-phase Lok Sabha election started on April 11. The first phase witnessed 69.45 voter turnout across the country while election for the second phase was held on April 18 and witnessed 69.43 per cent voter turnout.
The result for the Lok Sabha election will be announced on May 23.
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