96 Lok Sabha seats up for grabs in fourth phase today; Assembly poll in Andhra Pradesh , Odisha
New Delhi, May 12
The stage is set for the fourth phase of polling for 96 Lok Sabha seats on Monday, where 17.7 crore voters will cast their ballot across 1.92 lakh polling stations in 10 states/UT to seal the fate of 1,717 candidates.
All 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh and 17 in Telangana will vote in this phase. Besides, polling will also be held for all 175 Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh in the fourth phase.
1,717 in the fray
Total voters: 17.70 crore
Male: 8.97 crore
Female: 8.73 crore
Aged over 85: 12.49 lakh
Differently abled: 19.99 lakh
High-stakes battle
Former Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav (Kannauj); Union ministers Giriraj Singh (Begusarai, Bihar), Nityanand Rai (Ujiarpur, Bihar) and Raosaheb Danve (Jalna, Maharashtra); AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi (Hyderabad), Andhra Congress chief YS Sharmila (Kadapa), Union minister Ajay Kumar Mishra Teni (Kheri, UP), TMC’s suspended MP Mahua Moitra (Krishnanagar, West Bengal)
The fourth phase will see the commencement of polling for the Assembly elections as well as the Lok Sabha elections in Odisha. The polling will be held simultaneously in four phases till June 1. Of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha, polling in the fourth phase will be held for four seats, while 28 Assembly seats in the state will also go to the polls simultaneously. In all, there are 147 Assembly seats in Odisha.
Meanwhile, of the 96 Lok Sabha seats up for grabs in the fourth phase, 64 are general seats, 12 reserved for the Scheduled Tribes and 20 for Scheduled Caste candidates.
Of the 175 Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, 139 are for general candidates, 29 for SCs and seven for STs.
Similarly, of the 28 Assembly seats in Odisha which will see polling on Monday, 11 are for general candidates, three for SCs and the remaining 14 for STs.
The average number of contesting candidates in a parliamentary constituency for the fourth phase is 18.
Of the 17.70 crore voters in the fourth phase, 8.97 crore are male and 8.73 crore female. There are over 12.49 lakh registered voters above the age of 85 and 19.99 lakh voters with physical disabilities.
As many as 364 observers have been appointed for the fourth phase by the ECI — 126 general observers, 70 police observers and 168 expenditure observers.
The polling time in certain Assembly segments of the 17 parliamentary constituencies in Telangana has been extended by the ECI from 7 am till 6 pm to increase voter participation.
As per the IMD forecast, there is no significant concern regarding hot weather conditions during polling in the fourth phase.
