A total of 1,352 candidates are contesting from 93 constituencies across 11 states and union territories for the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections. Earlier, the Election Commission Of India had announced that Anantnag-Rajouri seat of Jammu and Kashmir will go for polls in the third phase, however after a request from BJP and other regional parties, on April 30, the poll body postponed the voting date from May 7 to May 25 in the countituency.
The polling in Madhya Pradesh's Betul constituency was shifted from phase 2 (April 26) to phase 3 after the demise of the BSP candidate from the seat.
93 seats, where polling is currently underway, include 25 seats in Gujarat, 14 seats in Karnataka, 11 seats in Maharashtra, 10 in Uttar Pradesh, 9 in Madhya Pradesh, 7 in Chhattisgarh, 5 in Bihar, 4 each in Assam and West Bengal and 2 seats each in Goa and Dadra Nagar Haveli & Daman & Diu.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal, former Madhaya Pradesh chief minister, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Union Minister Prahlad Joshi, former Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai are among the heavyweight contestants in the third phase of polling.
Key candidates in the third phase:
Amit Shah
Union Minister Amit Shah is contesting for a second term from Gujarat's Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat. Before Shah, the seat was represented by one of the founders of the Bharatiya Janata Party, L K Advani. In 1991, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee represented the constituency for a brief period. In 2019, in his first Lok Sabha contest, Amit Shah defeated Chatursinh Javanji Chavda of the Congress party by a huge margin of over 5.56 lakh votes.
This year, the Congress party has fielded Sonal Patel against the former BJP chief. Sonal, aged 62, is an architect by profession and currently serves as the All India Congress Committee secretary. It is believed that lightweight Congress candidate doesn't pose any threat for Amit Shah's re-election from Gandhinagar.
Union Minister Amit Shah | Facebook
Jyotiraditya Scindia
Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who switched sides with other Congress leaders amid the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020 to join the BJP, has been named as the candidate by the saffron party from Madhya Pradesh's Guna constituency, known as the bastion of the Scindia family. Before facing defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections against BJP's Krishn Pal Yadav, the Scindia family held the seat since 1989. Scindia is up against Congress candidate Rao Yadavendra Singh Yadav.
Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia | Facebook
In 2019, Jyotiraditya Scindia suffered a defeat at the hands of BJP's Krishna Pal Singh Yadav by a margin of over 1.26 lakh votes.
Shivraj Singh Chauhan
BJP veteran and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is vying for his 6th victory from Madhya Pradesh's Vidisha Lok Sabha seat. Having served as the state's chief minister for nearly 17 years, Chouhan now aims to secure a seat in the Parliament from Vidisha, where he last won as an MP in 2004. Shivraj has represented the Vidisha Lok Sabha constituency for five terms between 1991 and 2004.
Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan | Facebook
Congress party's Pratap Bhanu Sharma is main opponent against former MP CM from the seat.
Basavraj Bommai
Former Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai |
Former Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai is contesting against Congress' A G Math from Haveri Lok Sabha seat. The seat has been held by BJP since 2009.
Badruddin Ajaml
Maulana Badruddin Ajmal, the perfume baron and AIUDF chief is seeking a fourth term from Assam's Dhubri Lok Sabha seat. Ajmal has won last three Lok Sabha elections from the seat. Ajmal will compete against Rakibul Hussain of Congress and Zabed Islam of Asom Gana Parishad.
Badruddin Ajma | Facebook
Supriya Sule
The NCP(SP) Working President Supriya Sule (54) is locked in a rare battle with Sunetra Pawar (61), the wife of her cousin brother and rival NCP President Ajit Pawar.
Supriya Sule is making her fourth bid for the LS as compared to Sunetra Pawar trying her maiden attempt for Baramati which comprises six Assembly constituencies - Baramati, Daund, Purandar, Indapur, Bhor and Khadakwasla - of which two are held by NCP (including 7-time MLA Ajit Pawar), two with ally BJP and two with the Congress.
Supriya Sule | Facebook
Digvijay Singh
Former Madhya Pradesh chif minister Digvijay Singh has been fielded by the Congress party from Rajgarh Lok Sabha seat. In 2019, Digvijay faced defeat with the hands of BJP's Pragya Thakur in Bhopal.
Dimple Yadav
Dimple Yadav, wife of Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav is contesting from Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat. The seat is considered as the pocket borough of the Yadav family. BJP has fielded Jaiveer Singh against Dimple.
Dimple Yadav | Facebook
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury
Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Choudhury is seeking sixth term from West Bengal's Baharampur Lok Sabha seat. Adhir has been holding the seat since 1999. This year, the Baharampur election has been watched closely as TMC has fielded former cricketer Yusuf Pathan against the Congress leader.
Prahlad Joshi
Union Minister Prahlad Joshi is contesting from Karnataka's Dharwad Lok Sabha seat to register a fourth victory from here. He is up against Congress' Vinod Asooti.
List of phase 3 constituencies state-wise:
Assam: Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Barpeta and Guwahati
Bihar: Jhanjhrpur, Supaul, Araria, Madhepura and Khagaria
Chhattisgarh: Sarguja, Raigarh, Janjgir-Champa, Korba, Bilaspur, Durg and Raipur
Goa: North Goa, South Goa
Gujarat: Kachchh, Banaskantha, Patan, Mahesana, Bsabarkantha, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad West, Ahmedabad East, Surendranagar, Rajokt, Porbandar, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Amreli, Bhavnagar, Anand, Kheda, Panchmahal, Dahod, Vadodara, Chhota Udaipur, Bharuch, Bardoli, Navsari and Valsad.
(*The voting will not take place in Surat contituency of Gujarat as BJP candidate from the seat has been declared elected unopposed after all the opponent candidates withrew their nominations.)
Karnataka: Chikkodi, Belgaum, Bagalkot, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Raichur, Bidar, Koppal, Bellary, Haveri, Dharwad, Uttara Kannada, Davangere and Shimoga
Madhya Pradesh: Morena, Bhind, Gwalior, Guna, Sagar, Vidisha, Bhopal, Rajgarh and Betul
Maharashtra: Raigad, Baramati, Osmanabad, Latur, Solapur, Madha, Sangli, Satara, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Kolhapur and Hatkanangle
Uttar Pradesh: Sambhal, Hathras, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etah, Badaun, Aonla and Bareilly
West Bengal: Maldaha Uttar, Maldaha Dakshin, Jangipur and Murshidabad
Dadra Nagar Haveli & Daman & Diu: Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli
The counting for all the 543 Lok Sabha
