Voting for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections enters its fourth phase today in 96 constituencies spanning 10 states and Union Territories. A grand total of 1,717 candidates are competing in this stage.
Besides the parliamentary elections, today also marks the polling for all 175 seats of the Andhra Pradesh state legislative assembly and 28 seats of the Odisha state legislative assembly.
Prominent contenders in this round feature Akhilesh Yadav from Samajwadi Party, Mohua Moitra from TMC, and Asaduddin Owaisi from AIMIM.
In Andhra Pradesh, the electoral competition includes the YSRC in power, the Congress-led INDIA bloc, and the NDA which consists of the BJP, TDP led by Chandrababu Naidu, and Jana Sena Party (JSP) led by Pawan Kalyan. At the same time, 28 legislative assembly seats in Odisha are up for grabs in this round.
More than 19 lakh polling officials are assisting in voting at 1.92 lakh polling stations for over 17.70 crore eligible voters, which includes 8.73 crore women. Keep watching ET for the most recent updates.
Voting is also happening in the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency in Jammu and Kashmir, the initial election in the region following the revocation of Article 370 in August 2019. The National Conference has nominated prominent Shia leader Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, while the People’s Democratic Party has nominated Waheed Para. Ashraf Mir, nominated by the Apni Party, will be running as the BJP has decided not to participate.
Trio Fight in Krishnanagar Constituency
Today, on May 13, 2024, a total of eight parliamentary seats in West Bengal are participating in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections. In Krishnanagar, one of the eight seats, Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra, who was expelled last year due to her alleged connection to a ‘cash for query’ scandal, is running for re-election. Amrita Roy, who officially became a member of the saffron party on March 20 this year, is the BJP’s opponent in the elections.
Ending the campaign with the best rally ever- Trinamool Congress Zindabad! pic.twitter.com/IyygJAMBrZ
— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) May 11, 2024
By 9 am, West Bengal had the highest percentage at 15.24. Mahua Moitra, TMC’s candidate from Krishnanagar, stated that the election is proceeding calmly and she was visiting various polling stations to monitor the polling activity.
Krishnanagar constituency consists of seven assembly segments which are Tehatta, Krishnanagar Uttar, Krishnanagar Dakshin, Palashipara, Kaliganj, Nakashipara, and Chapra. The CPI(M) has been victorious in this seat nine times since it was first established during the fourth Lok Sabha elections in 1967.
BJP has fielded Amrita Roy, a descendant of the Krishnachandra Roy family. Roy formally joined the BJP on March 20th this year in the presence of Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of opposition in West Bengal. CPI has fielded S.M. Sadi in the Krishnanagar Constituency.
Akhilesh Yadav from Kannauj
The president of the Samajwadi Party and former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh has returned to the parliamentary election field – this time running from Kannauj, where he has served as a representative for 12 years from 2000-2012. After being controlled by the Samajwadi Party for more than twenty years, Kannauj was clinched by the BJP in the 2019 election, with Subrat Pathak beating the incumbent MP Dimple Yadav, wife of Mr Yadav, by a narrow gap of under 13,000 votes. This time, the BJP has decided to keep Mr Pathak as their candidate.
संविधान को बचाने के लिए शक्ति जुटाइए, हर हाल में वोट डाल कर आइए।
जिस तरह स्वतंत्रता आंदोलन में हमारे स्वतंत्रता सेनानियों ने अपनी जान की परवाह न करके संघर्ष किया था, आज फिर वैसा ही समय आ गया है जब स्वतंत्रता और संविधान के लिए कुछ कर गुजरने की ज़रूरत है।
‘संविधान सेनानी’ की… pic.twitter.com/xvrI5lF4uP
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) May 13, 2024
The Kannauj battle holds great importance for the Samajwadi Party as Mr. Yadav aims to reclaim the family stronghold previously held by his father Mulayam Singh Yadav. The BSP has announced Imran Bin Zafar as their contender in Kannauj, although the primary competition is expected to be between the Samajwadi Party and the BJP.
Asaduddin owaisi vs BJP’s Madhavi Latha in Hyderabad
AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi, who has been elected four times as a Member of Parliament from Hyderabad, is running for office in his family’s traditional stronghold, the same constituency where his father Salahuddin Owaisi served as a representative for 20 years, from 1984 to 2004. Though Mohammad Waliullah Sameer and Gaddam Srinivas Yadav are being fielded by the Congress and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, the BJP’s Kompella Madhavi Latha is Mr Owaisi’s main opponent. A well-known figure in the Hindutva movement,
Madhavi Latha is a cultural activist who vigorously opposed the banned tradition of triple talaq. She holds the position of chairperson at Virinchi Hospitals and is also an accomplished Bharatanatyam dancer.
Before the elections, Ms. Madhavi Latha was at the center of a scandal regarding a viral video showing her pretending to shoot an arrow towards a mosque. In the face of strong criticism, the BJP candidate apologized “if anyone’s feelings are hurt,” while also arguing that the video is “incomplete,” as pointed out by Asaduddin Owaisi.
Giriraj Singh vs CPI in Begusarai
The controversial leader and Union Minister, who is famous for his provocative statements, is standing for election in Begusarai, Bihar, where he emerged victorious in the 2019 polls. He previously served as a Lok Sabha representative for Nawada and held positions as a minister in the Bihar government and a member of the state legislative council. Begusarai has been under the control of the BJP since 2014.
During the 2019 election, Mr Singh won against former JNU students’ union president Kanhaiya Kumar by more than 400,000 votes, who was then affiliated with CPI and is now with Congress.
This time, he is competing with CPI’s Awadesh Kumar Rai, the candidate from the INDIA bloc. Both the Congress and the RJD have chosen to support the CPI candidate in his tough battle against Giriraj Singh. Mr Singh has been a Union Minister for rural development and panchayati raj since the beginning of the Narendra Modi government in 2014.
