Polling began on Saturday in 58 Lok Sabha constituencies across Haryana, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir in the 6thphase of the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.
Uttar Pradesh
The Lok Sabha seats that are going to polls in UP are: are Sultanpur, Pratapgarh, Phulpur, Allahabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Shrawasti, Domariyaganj, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Lalganj, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Machhlishahr and Bhadohi. This round of elections will seal the fate of several high-profile candidates in the state, including former Union minister Maneka Gandhi.
Uttar Pradesh sends the highest number of MPs (80) to the Lok Sabha.
Haryana
Union ministers Rao Inderjit Singh and Krishan Pal Gurjar and Congress heavyweights Kumari Selja and Deepender Singh Hooda are among the contestants in Haryana where polling has began in 10 Lok Sabha seats.
In 2019, the ruling BJP had won all 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Haryana is witnessing a direct fight between the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress on most seats. However, seats like Hisar are witnessing a multi-cornered contest.
West Bengal
Tamluk, Kanthi, Ghatal, Jhargram, Medinipur, Purulia, Bankura, and Bishnupur are the eight constituencies in the state going to polls in the sixth phase in West Bengal on Saturday.
Among the notable candidates in fray in this phase are Bengali actor Dev, who is seeking a third term as TMC MP from Ghatal, former Calcutta HC judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, the BJP candidate in Tamluk, Union Minister Subhas Sarkar in Bankura, and fashion designer Agnimitra Paul, a BJP legislator, who is pitted against TMC MLA and actor June Malia in Medinipur.
Bihar
Over 1.49 crore voters will decide the electoral fate of 86 candidates in Valmiki Nagar, Pashchim Champaran, Purvi Champaran, Sheohar, Siwan, Gopalganj, Maharajganj and Vaishali constituencies in Bihar.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) is contesting four seats, including Sheohar which was won by the BJP in the previous Lok Sabha polls.
The BJP is contesting three of the eight seats, including Pashchim Champaran, where former state president Sanjay Jaiswal is aiming at a fourth consecutive win.
Delhi
All the seven parliamentary constituencies in Delhi go to polls in this phase of Lok Sabha elections.
The BJP won all seven seats in Delhi in the 2014 and the 2019 general elections with huge margins and is aiming to replicate the same in these elections as well. The BJP candidates are Manoj Tiwari from North East Delhi, the only sitting MP from Delhi fielded by the party again; Ramvir Singh Bidhuri from South Delhi, Bansuri Swaraj from New Delhi, Harsh Deep Malhotra from East Delhi, Yogendra Chandolia from North West Delhi, Praveen Khandelwal from Chandni Chowk and Kamaljeet Sehrawat from West Delhi.
This is the first Lok Sabha election in Delhi in which AAP and the Congress have fielded joint candidates against the BJP. The AAP has fielded Kuldeep Kumar from the East Delhi seat, Mahabal Mishra from West Delhi, Somnath Bharti from New Delhi and Sahi Ram Pahalwan from South Delhi.
The Congress has nominated J P Agarwal from the Chandni Chowk seat, Kanhaiya Kumar from North East Delhi and Udit Raj from the North West Delhi constituency.
Odisha
Polling began on Saturday for six Lok Sabha constituencies and 42 assembly seats in Odisha. Sambalpur, Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Puri Lok Sabha seats along with 42 assembly segments that make up these Lok Sabha constituencies.
Sixty-four candidates are in the fray for the six Lok Sabha seats and 383 contestants for the 42 assembly segments. The prominent leaders contesting in this phase include Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, BJD organisational secretary and MLA Pranab Prakash Das and BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra.
Jharkhand
Giridih, Dhanbad, Ranchi, and Jamshedpur Lok Sabha constituencies in Jharkhand are going to polls on Saturday.
In the Ranchi Lok Sabha seat, Congress's Yashaswini Sahay, daughter of former Union minister Subodh Kant Sahay, is contesting against the BJP MP Sanjay Seth.
Dhanbad is witnessing a fight between BJP's Baghmara MLA Dulu Mahato and Congress's Anupama Singh, the wife of the party's Bermo legislator Kumar Jaimangal.
In Jamshedpur, BJP MP Bidyut Baran Mahato has been pitted against JMM's Baharagora MLA Samir Mohanty.
In Giridih, AJSU Party's Chandra Prakash Chaudhary is up against JMM's Tundi MLA Mathura Mahato.
Jammu and Kashmir
Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency where 20 candidates, including former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, are in the fray goes to polls in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday. As many as 2,338 polling stations have been set up across the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency.
—With agency inputs
