All Set for 4th Phase of Polling on May 13 for 96 Lok Sabha Seats

New Delhi: Amid an election campaign that's getting muddier due to hate speeches by BJP leaders against Muslims, allegations and counter allegations, the stage is set for the fourth phase of polling tomorrow (May 13, 2024) for 96 seats in 10 states and Union Territories for the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections. The fate of 1,717 candidates will be decided in this phase. The first three phases were held on April 19, 26 and May 7 covering 284 seats out of the total 543.

Of the 96 seats that are going to the polls on May 13, the stakes are high for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which had won 42 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The states and UTs that are going to polls tomorrow are Andhra Pradesh (25 seats), Telangana (17), Uttar Pradesh (13), Maharashtra (11), Madhya Pradesh (8), West Bengal (8), Bihar (5), Jharkhand (4), Odisha (4) and Jammu & Kashmir (1). Voting will simultaneously also be held for the Assembly elections in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.

In terms of vote share, the parties that constitute the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance received 40.34% of the votes compared with 23.73% of the now INDIA bloc, (excluding the votes of the Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party, both of which were united at the time). The united Shiv Sena was part of the NDA in 2019.

Among the prominent candidates in the fray on may 13 are Samajwadi Party chief and former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yada from Kannauj, the controversial BJP minister Ajay Mishra Teni is seeking re-election from Lakhimpur Kheri, where farmers were mowed down during the protest against the three farm laws, allegedly by an SUV driven by the minister’s son, who is the main accused. He is out on bail now.

In Bihar, former Janata Dal -United president Lalan Singh is seeking re-election from Munger, Union minister and Hindutva poster boy Giriraj Singh is in the fray from Bhagalpur against a fairly formidable candidate, AK Rai, from the Communist Party of India.

In Bengal, state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is fighting from Berhampur against cricketer Yusuf Pathan put by the Trinamool Congress (TMC). In Krishnagar, TMC firebrand Mahua Moitra is seeking re-election, while in Asansol, actor Shatrughan Sinha is TMC’s candidate against former BJP minister S S Ahluwalia. Another cricketer, Kirti Azad is the TMC candidate from Durgapur against BJP state chief Dilip Ghosh.

In Telangana, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi is up against dancer Madhavi Latha of BJP.

In Srinagar, the summer capital of erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir, the National Conference has fielded Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, against Waheed Parra of the People’s Democratic and J&K Mohammad Ashraf Mir as the NDA candidate.