Ninety-six Lok Sabha constituencies across 10 states and Union territories including all seats in Andhra Pradesh, where assembly elections are also being held concurrently, and Telangana will go to polls today. In the fourth phase, polling will be held in 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana, 25 in Andhra Pradesh, 13 in Uttar Pradesh, five in Bihar, four in Jharkhand, eight in Madhya Pradesh, 11 in Maharashtra, four in Odisha, eight in West Bengal and one in Jammu and Kashmir.
The fourth round will be witness to some interesting battles and the fate of several high-profile candidates will be decided in this phase - World Cup-winning cricketers Yusuf Pathan and Kirti Azad, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and AIMIM boss among others. The phase will also see a curious battle between the BJP and NOTA.
Here Are Some Interesting Facts About Phase 4:
1. High-Profile Candidates: The phase will see several high-profile candidates - former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, Mahua Moitra - who was expelled as an MP last December in the cash-for-query case, is contesting again from West Bengal's Krishnanagar. Congress' Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is contesting against BJP's Nirmal Kumar Saha and Trinamool's pick and former cricketer Yusuf Pathan. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi will contest from his family stronghold Hyderabad. Andhra Pradesh Congress president YS Sharmila, the sister of Chief Minister and YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, is contesting from Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh, represented in the past by her father and former Chief Minister, late YS Rajasekhar Reddy.
2. Richest Candidate In Fray: Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is the richest candidate in this phase, with assets exceeding Rs 5,700 crore. He is closely followed by Konda Vishwehwar Reddy of the BJP from Telangana, with assets worth Rs 4,568 crore. Mr Pemmasani, in a conversation with NDTV, said that he feels that his status as the richest candidate should not count.
3. BJP vs NOTA: In Indore, the Congress has been appealing to voters to select the NOTA option on the polling day on May 13 after a last-minute withdrawal of nomination by the party candidate Akshay Kanti Bam on April 29, who later joined the BJP. The appeal has drawn sharp criticism by the BJP.
4. World Cup-Winning Cricketers To Test Poll Pitch: Former cricketer Kirti Azad, who was part of the Kapil Dev-led team that won the 1983 cricket World Cup, is contesting from Bardhaman-Durgapur. Yusuf Pathan, a member of the Indian Cricket team that won the World Cup in 2011 has been fielded from Behrampur seat in Murshidabad. Both of them have been fielded by by the Trinamool Congress.
5. Jammu and Kashmir: In the first parliamentary polls since the abrogation of Article 370, Srinagar Lok Sabha seat will see Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra, a PDP candidate face off against former minister Aga Ruhullah Mehdi fielded by the National Conference as part of the INDIA bloc. Mohammad Ashraf Mir of the Apni Party is also in the fray.
6. All Andhra, Telangana Seats To Go To Polls: All the 25 seats in Andhra Pradesh will go to Lok Sabha polls simultaneously. The state will also go to Assembly polls across 175 seats on the same day. Polling will be held in all 17 parliamentary seats of the Congress-ruled Telangana, too.
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