Lok Sabha polls: Last phase of campaigning ends, all eyes on June 1 voting

NEW DELHI — The campaigning for the seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha elections came to a close on Thursday as leaders from the prominent political parties heightened their efforts with rallies till the last minute. 

On June 1, polling is scheduled to take place in 57 parliamentary constituencies spanning seven states and the Union Territory of Chandigarh to decide the fates of 904 candidates in the fray.

The electoral battleground in the final phase will see 13 seats going to the polls in both Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, followed by West Bengal (9), Bihar (8), Odisha (6), Himachal Pradesh (4), Jharkhand (3), and the lone Lok Sabha seat in Chandigarh.

Also, elections for 42 Assembly seats in Odisha are slated to take place on Saturday.

The counting of votes is scheduled for June 4.

On the final day of campaigning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a rally in Hoshiarpur, Punjab, while Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath conducted rallies across various locations in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to bolster support for the BJP candidates.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi rallied in support of the party candidate in Balasore, Odisha, and subsequently engaged with the farmers at Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar in Punjab.

Party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra conducted a roadshow in Solan, Himachal Pradesh.

Leaders from both the BJP and the INDIA bloc have spared no effort in their campaigns to win over the voters.

The BJP-led NDA is aiming for a historic third consecutive term, while the Opposition INDIA bloc is striving to overturn its electoral setbacks of the past decade.

In addition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi contesting from Varanasi, other notable BJP candidates for the final phase include Union Minister Anurag Thakur from Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh, Ravi Shankar Prasad from Patna Sahib, Bihar, and Kangana Ranaut from Mandi, Himachal Pradesh.

Representing the Congress are Manish Tewari from Chandigarh, Vikramaditya Singh from Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, and Ajay Rai from Varanasi, among others.

Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee’s fate will also be sealed on June 1. He is contesting from Diamond Harbour.

Full list of constituencies going to the polls in Phase 7:

Bihar: Nalanda, Patna Sahib, Pataliputra, Arrah, Buxar , Sasaram, Karakat and Jahanabad

Himachal Pradesh: Kangra, Mandi, Hamirpur and Shimla

Uttar Pradesh: Varanasi, Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria, Bansgaon, Ghosi, Ghazipur , Ballia, Salempur , Chandauli, Mirzapur, and Robertsganj

Punjab: Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Khadoor Sahib, Jalandhar (SC), Hoshiarpur (SC), Anandpur Sahib, Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib (SC), Faridkot (SC), Firozpur, Bathinda, Sangrur, and Patiala

Odisha: Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak Jajpur, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur

West Bengal: Dum Dum, Barasat, Basirhat, Jaynagar, Mathurapur, Diamond Harbour, Jadavpur, Kolkata Dakshin, and Kolkata Uttar

Jharkhand: Godda, Dumka, and Rajmahal

Chandigarh