The seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha election 2024 will be held on Saturday, June 1. The campaign for phase 7 of the general elections concludes today, two days before voters in 57 Lok Sabha constituencies across eight states and the Union Territory cast their votes. Voting will take place on June 1 in constituencies across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Chandigarh. According to Election Commission norms, voting for all seats will begin at 7 a.m. and conclude at 6 p.m.
Here is the complete list of constituencies that will vote in Phase 7:
Uttar Pradesh (13 seats) includes Varanasi, Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria, Bansgaon, Ghosi, Ghazipur, Ballia, Salempur, Chandauli, Mirzapur, Robertsgan.
Punjab has 13 seats includes Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Khadoor Sahib, Jalandhar (SC), Hoshiarpur (SC), Anandpur Sahib, Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib, Faridkot (SC), Firozpur, Bathinda, Sangrur, and Patiala.
Bihar has eight seats includes Arrah, Buxar, Karakat, Jahanabad, Nalanda, Patna Sahib, Pataliputra, and Sasaram.
West Bengal has nine seats, includes Barasat, Basirhat, Diamond Harbour, Dum Dum, Jaynagar, Jadavpur, Kolkata Dakshin, Kolkata Uttar, and Mathurapur.
Himachal Pradesh (4 seats) includes Mandi, Shimla, Kangra, and Hamirpur.
Odisha has six seats includes Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Jagatsinhpur, Kendrapara, and Mayurbhanj.
Jharkhand has three seats includes Dumka, Godda, Rajmahal.
Chandigarh - Chandigarh.
328 applicants from Punjab and 144 from Uttar Pradesh compete for 13 seats each. 134 candidates from Bihar are running for eight seats, 66 from Odisha for six, 52 from Jharkhand for three, 37 from Himachal Pradesh for four, and 19 from Chandigarh for one seat.
Key candidates in phase 7 of the Lok Sabha elections
Patna Sahib: Senior BJP leader and incumbent MP Ravi Shankar Prasad will struggle to keep his seat, counting on his and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity. Also, Anshul Avijit, the son of former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, has been nominated by the Congress.
Mandi: Kangana Ranaut, an actress turned politician, will run for the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency on a BJP ticket. Ranaut will face Congress candidate Vikramaditya Singh, a royal scion of the former Rampur Bushahr princely state. Singh is the son of Virbhadra Singh, the previous chief minister of Himachal Pradesh six times.
Hamirpur: Anurag Thakur, a sitting MP and Union minister, will run for re-election in the Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat. Satpal Raizada, a Congress contender and close confidante of Himachal Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, will be his opponent in the elections.
Mayurbhanj: A tribal-dominated seat, Mayurbhanj was the bastion of President Droupadi Murmu, the BJP-led NDA presidential candidate. Murmu is a native of Uparbeda, a village in this constituency. The BJP presently controls this seat and will seek to keep it against Odisha ruling party - Biju Janata Dal and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.
Amritsar: Former allies BJP and Shiromani Akali Dal will try to wrest the Amritsar constituency from Congress' sitting MP Gurjeet Aujla. The BJP has backed Taranjit Singh Sandhu, a former diplomat to the United States, while the Akali Dal has fielded Anil Joshi.
Khadoor Sahib: Amritpal Singh, the jailed Waris Punjab De leader, would run as an independent candidate from Khadoor Sahib. The Aam Aadmi Party, Congress, BJP, and Akali Dal are also contesting without forming an alliance.
Ferozpur: Punjab's Ferozpur constituency is considered an Akali Dal stronghold. Sher Singh Ghubaya, a former Akali Dal MP from the seat, will run on a Congress ticket for the second time. He ran as a Congress candidate in the 2019 elections but was defeated by Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal. The AAP has fielded MLA Jagdeep Singh Kaka Brar, while the Akali Dal has fielded Nardev Singh Mann, the son of a former Member of Parliament.
Varanasi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi plans to run for a third term in the Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi. In addition to Modi, six other candidates from Varanasi will compete, including Uttar Pradesh Congress Chief Ajay Rai.
Kolkata: The West Bengal capital city contains two Lok Sabha constituencies, Kolkata Uttar and Kolkata Dakshin, both held by Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress. It will be fascinating to watch whether the BJP can strengthen its presence in the state through these seats.
