Polling preparations underway for 93 Lok Sabha seats in third phase

The polling preparations are underway across different states for the third phase of the Lok Sabha election, which is set to begin at 7 am today.
93 Lok Sabha constituencies across 12 states and union territories will go to the polls in this phase today.
The states and union territories where the elections will be held in this phase are Assam (4), Bihar (5), Chhattisgarh (7), Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (2), Goa (2), Gujarat (25), Karnataka (14), Maharashtra (11), Madhya Pradesh (8), Uttar Pradesh (10) and West Bengal (4). The BJP has bagged the Surat seat unopposed.
The poll officials have started preparations for the voting in these constituencies.
This phase is also important because PM Minister Narendra Modi will also cast his vote in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Security has been beefed up at Nishan Higher Secondary School in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, where PM Modi will cast his vote today.
“All the arrangements have been made and the forces are deployed,” Neeraj Kumar Badgujar, JCP Ahmedabad told ANI.
In this phase, more than 1300 candidates, including around 120 women, are in the fray.
A total of 17.24 crore voters are eligible to cast their franchise in this phase at 1.85 lakh polling stations. Seventy-five delegates from 23 countries will see the poll process, the poll panel said.
Voting will not take place for Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat on Tuesday as the Election Commission of India (ECI) has postponed the polling to the sixth phase to be held on May 25.
Prominent leaders to contest in today’s poll battle include Union Home Minister Amit Shah, former Madhya Pradesh chief ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Digvijaya Singh, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Samajwadi Party leader Dimple Yadav, and NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule, among others.
In the 2019 general election, the BJP won 72 of the 93 seats that go to the polls today.
Polling for more than half of the total number of constituencies will be completed by the end of this phase.
The Lok Sabha elections are being held across seven phases, from April 19 to June 1. The counting is scheduled for June 4.
The Narendra Modi-led BJP is seeking a third term in power, while the opposition INDIA bloc is aiming to wrest power by stopping the juggernaut