Third phase of Lok Sabha polls 2024 to set mood of people for NDA, INDIA alliances

Hyderabad: The third phase of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 to be held on May 7 will set the mood of the public for the government in Delhi. This phase has the highest number of crorepati candidates, royalty and the most important state Gujarat for the BJP, and for the INDIA alliance too, as everyone is waiting to see if the Opposition bloc can create a dent in Gujarat in 2024.

Phase 3 states and candidates

Phase 3 will see poll contests in 95 seats in 11 States and 2 Union Territories. A total of 1,352 candidates are in fray and the voting is scheduled for May 7.

The States will judge the mood of the people in Gujarat, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and two Union Territories Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

BJP stronghold in Gujarat

The electorate of Gujarat is going to vote in this phase. It is the bastion of prime minister Narendra Modi and Union minister Amit Shah.

In 2019, all the 26 Lok Sabha seats were won by the BJP in Gujarat. In 2024, the BJP candidate won the Surat seat unopposed. A maximum of 658 nominations were received for the 26 Parliamentary seats.

Trouble in Saurashtra belt:

Saurashtra belt of Rajkot Parliament seat in Gujarat was rocked by the agitation of Kshatriyas who are not in favour of BJP candidate Parshottam Rupala. They have openly vowed to not vote for the BJP in the ensuing elections. The dent it will create in the Rajkot seat remains to be seen.

10 seats of Uttar Pradesh

The 10 seats of Uttar Pradesh are crucial for the BJP as in the first two rounds of polling, the percentage of voting was as much as desired by the BJP. Uttar Pradesh is an important state for the BJP as it charted the road map for victory in 2019.

According to sources, “The local BJP leaders were not happy with the nomination of candidates and they protested by not voting.” The locals have gone silent with there being no indication of whom they are going to vote.

It must be noted that PM Narendra Modi has written a letter to all candidates asking them to ensure that the voter turnout is good in their constituencies.

14 seats in Karnataka

The 14 seats in Karnataka are to see a dent as the alleged sex video scandal of sitting Member of Parliament Prajwal Revanna of Janta Dal (Secular) is rocking the state.

Revanna has left the country. According to sources, “An impact on women voters is expected due to this scandal.”

11 seats in Maharashtra

The mood in Maharashtra is leaning towards the INDIA alliance and local candidates are fighting the election based on local issues. “A section of people have moved away from the emotions evoked by PM Modi and are looking at what is the future for them.”

Crorepati candidates in the fray

Out of the 1,352 candidates, 392 (29%) are crorepatis, according to an analysis by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

The richest candidate is from South Goa, BJP’s Pallavi Shrinivas Dempo whose wealth is amounting to Rs 1,361 crores, as per the election affidavit filed by the candidate.

The second richest candidate is Union minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia, contesting from Guna in Madhya Pradesh whose assets amount to Rs 424 crores.

The third richest candidate is Chhatrapati Shahu Shahaji, contesting from Kolhapur for the Indian National Congress, whose assets amount to Rs 342 crores.

The average value of assets per candidate in the Lok Sabha elections phase 3 is Rs.5.66 crores.

Political party-wise assets

Here’s an overview of the assets of political candidates and their parties.

- 3 Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) candidates have assets worth Rs 89.68 crores.

- 3 Nationalist Congress Party candidates have assets worth Rs 62.64 crores.

- 82 BJP candidates have assets worth Rs 44.07 crores.

- 10 Samajwadi Party candidates have assets worth Rs 42.93 crores.

- 68 Indian National Congress candidates have assets worth Rs 20.59 crores.

- 6 All India Trinamool Congress candidates have average assets worth Rs 9.96 crores.

- 2 Shiv Sena candidates have average assets worth Rs 9.81 crores.

- 5 Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) candidates have average assets worth Rs 5.65 crores.

- 3 RJD candidates have average assets of Rs 5.47 crores.

ECI to double efforts

The Election Commission of India has stated in a press release that they are going to double the efforts for voter participation. The ECI stated a small drop in voter participation in the first two phases.

The turnout in Phase 1 is 66.14 per cent and Phase 2 is 66.71 per cent.

This is low when compared to 2019, said ECI. The ECI in a statement stated that they are going to work towards boosting voter participation in phase 3. This phase is going to cast the die for who will lead in the next four phases of polls. Hence, all eyes are set on the voting pattern in this phase.