New Delhi: As the country approaches the halfway mark in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, ETV Bharat provides you with a detailed report from all the states that will go to in the upcoming fourth phase of polling.
The polling for the fourth phase will take place in 72 constituencies spread across 9 states.
Nearly, 943 candidates are in the fray in this round of elections.
NORTH INDIA
Four states from the north zone of the country will have 33 seats at fray- 1 from Jammu and Kashmir, 13 from Uttar Pradesh, 6 from Madhya Pradesh, and 13 from Rajasthan.
Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan will be voting for the first time. Both the states will be witnessing a politically crucial battle as sons of the veteran leaders will put to test their political legacy.
From Rajasthan, chief minister Ashok Gehlot's son Vaibhav will make his political debut from Jodhpur LS constituency. Former BJP MLA and Jaipur royal family scion Diya Kumari will be contesting for the first in the general elections from Rajsamand constituency.
In Madhya Pradesh, CM Kamal Nath's son is contesting his maiden elections from Sidhi against the son of late Congress stalwart Arjun Singh.
The fourth phase in the country's largest state, Uttar Pradesh, will have the spotlight on political personalities than on parties. Samajwadi Party's Dimple Yadav from Kannauj, former union minister Salman Khurshid from Farukkhabad, former union minister Shri Prakash Jaiswal from Kanpur, BJP's Ram Shankar Katheria from Agra are among the few big names that have emerged from the state.
Anantnag from Jammu and Kashmir is the only seat in the country that is voting in three phases.
EAST INDIA
Four states from the east zone of the country will have voters voting candidates for 22 seats- 3 from Jharkhand, 5 from Bihar, 6 from Odisha, and 8 from West Bengal.
Bihar's Begusarai is set to witness a tough battle between CPI candidate Kanhaiya Kumar and BJP’s firebrand leader Giriraj Singh. Strangely enough, 32 out of the 61 candidates contesting for the fourth phase are not graduates and 10 of them haven't even received elementary education. State BJP president Nityanand Rai is a graduate too and contesting against RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha in Ujiarpur.
From West Bengal, several star candidates, including two Union Ministers- BJP's Babul Supriyo and Congress's Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury along with SS Ahluwalia, Moon Moon Sen, Kalyan Chaubey are up for grabs on Monday.
The battle for Jharkhand will be beginning with three LS seats from the fourth phase of polling on 29th April. Around 38,400 personnel would be deployed to provide security cover in the area.
Odisha will set up the stage for the fourth phase as it will be the final phase of polling for the state, except for Patkura assembly seat where voting is slated to be held on May 19 following the death of the BJD candidate. Prominent among the hopefuls include BJP national vice-president Baijayant Panda (Kendrapara LS seat) and state Congress president Niranjan Patnaik (Bhandaripokhari assembly seat).
WEST INDIA
In Maharashtra, the fourth and last phase of polls in the state will have 17 LS seats at fray. A total of 3.11 crore voters spread over Mumbai metropolitan region and parts of northern and western Maharashtra, would exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 323 candidates.
Notably, Maharashtra will be home to top five 'red alert' constituencies- which indicates a high number of candidates having a criminal background- which will be going to polls on April 29. Around 28% of the candidates contesting have declared criminal cases against them.
Another interesting figure reflects that 306 crorepati candidates at fray, 109 are from Maharashtra. Sanjay Bhosale of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi is the richest candidate in the state with total assets worth Rs 125 crore.
Prominent candidates in the contest are Union minister Subhash Bhamre (Dhule) of BJP, Urmila Matondkar (Mumbai North), Priya Dutt (Mumbai North Central) and NCP chief Sharad Pawar's grandnephew Parth Pawar, who is fighting his maiden contest from Maval seat.
The voting for the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections 2019 will begin at 7 am.
Counting of votes will take place on 23 May.
