The fourth phase of polling will take place in 72 constituencies across nine States amidst tight security on Monday. In West Bengal, where eight constituencies are going to the polls, unprecedented deployment of the Central forces has been made after the Opposition parties, Congress, CPI(M) and BJP, accused the ruling Trinamool Congress of intimidating their cadre.
Voting will take place in 17 seats in Maharashtra, 13 each in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, eight in West Bengal, six each in Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, five in Bihar, three in Jharkhand and a part of Anantnag constituency in Jammu and Kashmir.
Critical phase
This is a critical phase for the ruling BJP and its allies as it had swept 56 of these seats in 2014, leaving just two for the Congress and the rest for other Opposition parties such as the Trinamool Congress (six) and the Biju Janata Dal (six).
In West Bengal, 561 companies of the Central armed security forces will be deployed, along with 88 companies of quick response teams. The Central forces will be guarding 9,685 polling premises out of a total of 9,804. The election is not only a test for 68 candidates but also one for the Election Commission. There have been stray incidents of violence in the first two phases in the State, and during the third phase one person was killed in violence on polling day in Murshidabad district.
Besides general election and expenditure observers, the Election Commission has for the first time deployed a special police observer and a special observer in the State.
The Trinamool Congress had cried foul about special observer Ajay Nayak calling him partisan and had demanded cancellation of his appointment.
Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh will see the first round of polling. The electoral fortune of sons of Chief Ministers of both States Ashok Gehlot’s son Vaibhav Gehlot and Kamal Nath’s son Nakul Nath will be tested.
This phase will bring elections to a close in Maharashtra and Odisha. In Maharashtra, which sends 48 MPs, the second highest after Uttar Pradesh, there are 65 critical booths in suburban Mumbai where the polling process will be monitored through web-casting, an election official said.
Elaborate security arrangements have been made in Mumbai, in view of the recent serial blasts in Sri Lanka. Over 40,400 security personnel have been deployed in the metropolis for the smooth conduct of the polls, according to a statement issued by the Mumbai Police.
In Odisha, six Lok Sabha and 41 Assembly seats are going to the polls, including Kendrapara which has turned into a battle of prestige between the BJP and Biju Janata Dal.
BJD rebel and national vice-president of the BJP Baijayant Panda is seeking a re-election from here.
All eyes on Begusarai
In Bihar, out of the five Lok Sabha seats going to the polls all eyes are on Begusarai, where former JNU student’s union president Kanhaiya Kumar is contesting against Union Minister Giriraj Singh and RJD candidate Tanweer Hassan.
In U.P., 2.38 crore voters are likely to exercise their franchise at 27,513 booths. Key political figures like Dimple Yadav, former Union Ministers Salman Khurshid (Farrukhabad) and Sriprakash Jaiswal (Kanpur) of the Congress, U.P. Cabinet minister Satyadev Pachauri (Kanpur), Sakshi Maharaj of BJP (Unnao) and Annu Tandon of Congress (Unnao) are in the fray in the 13 Lok Sabha constituencies here.
( With inputs from PTI)
