Lok Sabha elections: Final phase on June 1; PM Modi among important candidates in fray

Polling for the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha elections will begin on June 1. 

This crucial phase covers 57 seats across seven States and one Union Territory. It will decide the electoral fate of leaders from some of the high-profile constituencies, including Varanasi, Mandi, Chandigarh and Amritsar. 904 candidates will contest the seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha elections. 

Of the 57 Lok Sabha seats, 9 are from West Bengal, 13 each from Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, 8 from Bihar, 6 from Odisha, 4 from Himachal Pradesh, 3 from Jharkhand, and the lone seat of Chandigarh. 

The seventh phase will witness key contests in various constituencies, the prominent ones including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP leaders Kangana Ranaut, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Anurag Thakur, Ravi Kishan, Nishikant Dubey, Ravneet Singh Bittu, Congress leaders Manish Tewari, Charanjit Singh Channi, TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Misa Bharti. 

Key candidates in the Phase 7 polls from Varanasi is Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the sitting MP and BJP's candidate who is seeking a third consecutive term from the constituency and hoping to win with a record margin. He will face Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai. 

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, PM Modi won the seat with over 6,74,664 votes and commanded a vote share of 63.6 per cent. In 2014, PM Modi won the Varanasi seat for the first time on a BJP ticket, receiving
56.37 per cent of the total votes, while Arvind Kejriwal from the AAP came in second with 20.30 per cent and Ajay Rai from the Congress party came in third with 7.34 per cent of the votes.

The Mandi constituency holds symbolic significance for the Congress, as it is considered a bastion of the Virbhadra family. Here BJP has fielded Kangana Ranaut against the son of six-time Himachal CM Virbhadra Singh, Vikramaditya Singh.

The seat is currently held by Pratibha Devi Singh, the late leader's widow. She wrested the seat for the Congress in the by-election that was held following the demise of the BJP MP Ram Swaroop Sharma. 

Kangana Ranaut has been saying that she will work for the progress of women as well as for the infrastructural development in the constituency.

On the other hand, Congress has been campaigning on the pitch that Kangana Ranaut doesn't have an idea about the issues on the ground.

The Hamirpur Lok Sabha constituency is a stronghold of the BJP with Union Minister Anurag Thakur consistently winning this seat three times.

Anurag Thakur is trying to woo the voters by counting the developmental works done by BJP. He said, "Today's India wants to move forward, that is why it is going to choose a strong and powerful leadership again. In six phases, the entire country has voted enthusiastically to take the resolution of developed India to fruition and to make Narendra Modi the Prime Minister of the country for the third time. Hamirpur Lok Sabha and Himachal Pradesh are also going to vote in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party in huge numbers in the seventh and final phase on June 1."

Congress, on the other hand, decided to go with one of the popular faces from one of the Vidhan Sabha constituencies of Hamirpur, Una and chose former MLA Satpal Singh Raizada as their candidate for the Lok Sabha elections 2024. He defeated the sitting MLA of that time, Satpal Singh Satti of BJP, in the 2017 Vidhan Sabha elections to secure his first major victory. Satpal Singh Raizada currently holds the position
of Himachal Pradesh Congress' Vice President.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has once again fielded their sitting MP and actor Ravi Kishan as their Lok Sabha candidate, while the Samajwadi Party (SP) has fielded actress Kajal Nishad. The Bahujan
Samaj Party (BSP) has fielded Javed Simanani.

Considered to be a bastion of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Gorakhpur is set for a fierce battle between the two Bhojpuri actors.

SP's candidate, Kajal Nishad, has worked in the Bhojpuri film industry and is entering her first major political contest in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Kajal Nishad is a popular TV actress and has worked
in various daily soaps, including Lapataganj.

The seat is witnessing a multi-cornered contest among the Bharatiya Janata Party leader and two-time Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu, Punjab Congress Chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and Aam Aadmi Party leader Ashok Parashar Pappi. Shiromani Akali Dal has fielded Ranjit Singh Dhillon as the party's candidate from Ludhiana.

The Punjab Congress President Amarinder Singh Raja Warring expressed his confidence in winning the Ludhiana Lok Sabha seat, stating that the warm welcome he has received from the people of Ludhiana indicates that they are going to shower him with immense love and support in the upcoming Lok Sabha election.

Congress leader Manish Tewari will be aiming to stop the Bharatiya Janata Party from registering a hattrick on the seat of Chandigarh. Tewari is pitted against Sanjay Tandon, a candidate BJP named to replace its two-time MP from Chandigarh, Kirron Kher, who won the seat both in 2014 and 2019. 

As part of his campaign, Tewari has presented a 'city-specific' manifesto. Under this, he has promised 20,000 litres of free water every month and 300 units of free electricity to families with a monthly income of up to Rs 20,000.

Former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi has been fielded by the Congress. He will face BJP's Sushil Kumar Rinku and AAP leader Pawan Kumar Tinu. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Congress candidate
Santokh Chaudhary won this seat. However, Chaudhary died of a cardiac arrest in January 2023. Sushil Kumar Rinku registered victory in the bypoll here on the AAP ticket however he later joined the BJP. 

West Bengal Chief Minister's nephew and TMC General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee will look to retain this seat. He is pitted against BJP leader Abhijit Das (Bobby) and CPI(M) Pratik Ur Rahaman. 

BJP's Paras Nath Rai is in the electoral fray against Samajwadi Party's incumbent MP Afzal Ansari, who is the brother of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari.

Shiromani Akali Dal leader and three-time MP from Bathinda Harsimrat Kaur Badal (SAD) will be looking for the fourth straight victory. She is pitted against Congress' Jeet Mohinder Singh, AAP leader Gurmeet
Singh Khudian and former IAS officer Parampal Kaur Sidhu from the BJP.

Three-time BJP MP from Godda, Nishikant Dubey is facing INDIA bloc candidate Pradeep Yadav from this seat. 

BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad will look to retain Patna Sahib constituency. He is pitted against  Congress leader Anshul Avijit, who is the son of former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.

Also, Waris Punjab De Chief Amritpal Singh is contesting from Punjab's Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha constituency as an independent candidate. In Amritsar, the BJP fielded Taranjit Singh who will face Congress incumbent MP Gurjeet Aujla. 

Polling for 486 Parliamentary constituencies has already been completed. Polling for the remaining 42 Assembly Constituencies of the Odisha State Legislative Assembly will also take place simultaneously
on June 1. 

Election Commission of India said that around 10.9 lakh Polling officials will welcome over 10.06 crore electors across ~1.09 lakh polling stations. Over 10.06 crore electors include approx. 5.24 crore Male; 4.82 crore Female and 3574 Third gender electors.

The counting of votes will be done on June 4.