Voting in Round 4 of Lok Sabha battle on, Trinamool worker killed in Bengal

Voting for the fourth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections began at 7 AM sharp today on 96 seats across 10 states and Union Territories.

The states of West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh will be in focus as many big-ticket candidates are fray. In Bengal, where violence has marred previous rounds of voting, a Trinamool Congress worker was killed in a crude bomb attack. The incident took place in the Bolpur Lok Sabha constituency, mere hours before polling was scheduled to begin.

Polling is being conducted simultaneously on all 175 Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh and 28 legislative assembly seats in Odisha.

So far, polling has concluded in three phases in 283 Lok Sabha constituencies in 20 states and Union Territories. The counting of votes is scheduled for June 4.

Here are 10 things to know about Phase 4 polling:
Voting is underway in 10 states and Union Territories — Andhra Pradesh (25), Bihar (5), Jharkhand (4), Madhya Pradesh (8), Maharashtra (11), Odisha (4), Telangana (17), Uttar Pradesh (13), West Bengal (8), and Jammu and Kashmir (1).

A Trinamool Congress worker was killed when unidentified men lobbed a crude bomb at him in Bolpur, Purba Bardhaman district. The victim, Mintu Sheikh, was returning home late on Sunday night when he was attacked. Locals said he died on the spot.

Among the key battles in Uttar Pradesh, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is contesting from the Kannauj seat. Union Minister Ajay Misra Teni, whose son is an accused in the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, is eyeing a hattrick from the seat.

In West Bengal, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is up against former cricketer and Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate Yusuf Pathan. TMC’s Mahua Moitra, who was expelled from Lok Sabha in the wake of cash-for-query allegations, is seeking re-election from the Krishnanagar seat. She faces erstwhile royal Amrita Roy, who has been fielded by the BJP.

Actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha is seeking re-election from the Asansol seat where he is pitted against BJP veteran leader SS Ahluwalia. Former state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh is contesting against Trinamool Congress’s Kirti Azad from the Bardhaman-Durgapur seat.

In Bihar, Union Ministers Giriraj Singh (Begusarai) and Nityanand Rai (Ujiarpur) are in fray.

In Andhra Pradesh, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi is seeking another term from the Hyderabad seat. His main challenger this time is BJP candidate Kompella Madhavi Latha.

Andhra Pradesh Congress president YS Sharmila is also contesting from the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat.

In Maharashtra, BJP’s Raosaheb Danve from Jalna and Pankaja Munde from Beed are in fray.

Polling will also take place in Srinagar Lok Sabha seat in Jammu and Kashmir, the first election in the Valley after Article 370 was abrogated in August 2019. The National Conference has fielded influential Shia leader Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi while People’s Democratic Party has fielded Waheed Para. The Apni Party has fielded Ashraf Mir, while the BJP is not contesting.

The BJP-led NDA has MPs from over 40 of these 96 seats that will go to polls on Monday.

The weather forecast by India Meteorological Department (IMD) indicates that the parliamentary constituencies going to polls are likely to experience normal to below normal temperatures and there will be no heatwave-like conditions in these areas on polling day.