Polling for the last and seventh phase of the 18th Lok Sabha elections started at 7 am on Saturday, marking the end of world’s largest polling marathon that began on April 19 and already covered 6 phases and 486 Lok Sabha seats.
As many as 57 constituencies across eight states and Union Territories are voting to decide the fate of 904 candidates. Polling for 42 assembly constituencies of the Odisha Legislative Assembly is also taking place simultaneously today.
The states and union territories where polling is being held in the 7th phase are Bihar (8/40 seats), Himachal Pradesh (4/4), Jharkhand (3/14), Odisha (6/21), Punjab (13/13), Uttar Pradesh (13/80), West Bengal (9/42) and the Chandigarh Union territory.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is eyeing a third consecutive win from the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency, which is going to polls today. Ajay Rai, the Opposition INDIA bloc nominee, is his main challenger.
Meanwhile, thirteen poll personnel deployed in Uttar Pradesh’s Mirzapur died at a hospital in Mirzapur following high fever and high blood pressure.
