Main battle begins, 11 states go to poll on Thursday
As the third phase begins on Thursday, all eyes are on these high-profile candidates
New Delhi: After two phases of electioneering, the main battle of the ballot begins on Thursday with the country entering the third phase of the 2014 general election.
Around 110 million voters spread across 11 states and three Union territories, covering 92 constituencies, including riot-hit Muzaffarnagar, Delhi and the national capital region, will decide the electoral fortunes of 154 candidates.
Of the 92 seats going to the polls, seven are in Delhi, 10 in Uttar Pradesh, 10 in Maharashtra, five in Jharkhand, nine in Madhya Pradesh, 20 in Kerala, six in Bihar, 10 in Haryana, 10 in Odisha, and one each in Chandigarh, Goa, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep and the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir.
The BJP, led by prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, appears to have an edge in 10 Lok Sabha berths in western Uttar Pradesh that votes on Thursday.
In riot-hit Muzaffarnagar, the votes are clearly polarised, with the majority chunk of the Jat community veering towards the BJP while a large chunk of the minority vote is tilting to the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party.
The BJP’s UP in-charge, Amit Shah, a close aide of Mr Modi, has been accused of trying to polarise the Uttar Pradesh votebank as he exhorted the Jats to “vote for revenge”.