Today marks the commencement of the 4th phase of voting for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections across 96 constituencies in 10 states and Union Territories. With 1,717 candidates vying for seats, polling stations witnessed an early voter turnout of 10.4% as of 9 am.
Polling is underway in significant regions including all 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana, 25 seats in Andhra Pradesh, 13 in Uttar Pradesh, and several others across Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, West Bengal, and Jammu and Kashmir.
Of particular note is the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency, where the first major election in Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019 is being observed.
Simultaneously, voting is also being conducted for all 175 Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh and 28 seats in Odisha in this phase.
To ensure a smooth electoral process, over 19 lakh polling officials have been deployed at 1.92 lakh polling stations, catering to over 17.70 crore eligible voters.
Key candidates in the fray include Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Union minister Giriraj Singh, TMC’s Mohua Moitra, AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, former cricketer Yusuf Pathan of TMC, and Andhra Pradesh Congress president YS Sharmila, among others.
The Lok Sabha elections span seven phases from April 19 to June 1, with the counting scheduled for June 4.
