Lok Sabha Elections 2009: Penultimate Phase of Polling on Thursday
Amid political game of snatching each other’s allies, and changing political scenes, as many as 85 parliamentary constituency spread across seven states and union territories go to poll on Thursday.
In this penultimate phase of Lok Sabha elections, a total of 9.46 crore voters will decide the fate of around 1,315 candidates, 119 of them women.
Unlike first three phases, an extensive electioneering by star campaigners and a sudden comeback at the real issues plus obvious efforts to win new allies form the backdrop of this phase. The analysts say that all this could prove previous exit polls and analyses wrong and the seats going to poll in this phase may spring surprises.
Besides, the older issues like Gujarat riots and Bofors gun incidentally returned for the first time in these elections.
Possibly, more voters can turn up to vote on Thursday. Voting will take place in 1.29 lakh polling booths, which are manned by over six lakh election officials. Polling will be held from seven in the morning to five in the evening
In this phase too, a crowd of prominent leaders are in the fray. They include BJP President Rajnath Singh, Congress’ Pranab Mukherjee, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, NC’s Farooq Abdullah, Congress’ Kapil Sibal (Chandni Chowk), Sachin Pilot (Ajmer), Shekhar Suman (Patna Saheb), Ajay Maken (New Delhi), BJP’s Shatrughan Sinha (Patna Saheb), HJC’s Bhajan Lal (Hisar) and RLD’s Ajit Singh (Baghpat)
Elections to all the 25 seats in Rajasthan, 10 in Haryana and seven in Delhi will be completed at one go.
Elections will also be held to three seats in Bihar, one in Jammu and Kashmir, four in Punjab, 18 in Uttar Pradesh and 17 in West Bengal. Rajnath Singh is contesting from Ghaziabad Lok Sabha seat, while Mukherjee is fighting from Jangipur and Mulayam from Mainpuri.
At the conclusion of this phase, elections to 457 out of the 545 Lok Sabha seats would be completed. Out of 545-member house, two members are nominated from the Anglo-Indian community and 543 seats go to the polls.
