Millions of Indian voters are set to cast their ballots on May 7 in the third phase of a seven-phase election, featuring key candidates such as interior minister Amit Shah, perfume baron Badruddin Ajmal, and scion Jyotiraditya Scindia. Shah is seeking re-election from Gandhinagar in Gujarat, while Scindia is contesting from Guna in Madhya Pradesh and Ajmal from Dhubri in Assam. A total of 1,351 candidates are vying for 94 seats in the Lok Sabha, spread across 12 states and federally governed territories. Gujarat, Modi’s home state, will vote on 25 seats, with Surat already declared for the ruling BJP.
The third phase will see voters from states like Karnataka, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Goa, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu casting their ballots. Key constituencies include Gandhinagar in Gujarat, Guna in Madhya Pradesh, Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh, and Dhubri in Assam.
Voting will begin at 7am and end at 6pm, with results expected on June 4. The BJP currently governs several of the states and territories voting in this phase, while West Bengal is governed by the All India Trinamool Congress Party. Jammu and Kashmir is directly governed from New Delhi. In the 2019 elections, the BJP and its allies won the majority of seats, with Congress and its allies winning a smaller number.