ANS: The seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha elections is currently underway, with polling being conducted in 57 Parliamentary Constituencies across seven states and one Union Territory.
The constituencies include 13 seats each in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, nine in West Bengal, eight in Bihar, six in Odisha, four in Himachal Pradesh, three in Jharkhand, and one in Chandigarh. Voting commenced at 7 AM today and will continue until 6 PM.
By 11 AM, over 26 percent voter turnout had been recorded. The state-wise polling percentages are: Himachal Pradesh: nearly 32 percent; Jharkhand: over 29 percent; West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh: over 28 percent; Bihar: over 24 percent; Chandigarh: over 25 percent; Punjab: nearly 24 percent; Odisha: nearly 23 percent.
A total of 904 candidates are contesting in this phase. Prominent candidates include Prime Minister and senior BJP leader Narendra Modi, BJP leaders Anurag Thakur, Ravi Shankar Prasad, and Kangana Ranaut, Congress leaders Manish Tiwari and Vikramaditya Singh, RJD leader Misa Bharti, and Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee.
More than 106 million voters are eligible to cast their ballots in this phase.
Simultaneously, polling is being held for the remaining 42 seats of the Odisha Assembly in its fourth phase. Additionally, Assembly by-elections are taking place for six constituencies in Himachal Pradesh and one seat each in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.
This seventh phase marks the conclusion of the world’s largest polling marathon, which began on April 19 and has covered 486 Lok Sabha seats so far.