Lok Sabha Election Phase 7 LIVE Updates: Polling for the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha elections has begun today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is among the prominent leaders contesting in this phase.
At 11 am, 26.3% voter turnout was recorded across seven states and Chandigarh. Odisha recorded the lowest voter turnout of 22.6% while Himachal Pradesh recorded the highest at 31.9%.
Voting has begun across 57 constituencies spanning seven states and the Union Territory of Chandigarh to decide the fates of 904 candidates in the fray. The campaigning for the polls concluded on Thursday with top leaders holding massive rallies across the country.
Thirteen seats in both Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, nine in West Bengal, eight in Bihar, six in Odisha, four in Himachal Pradesh, three in Jharkhand and the lone Lok Sabha seat in Chandigarh go to polls today.
Apart from PM Modi, who is contesting from Varanasi, other top BJP candidates include Union Minister Anurag Thakur from Himachal Pradesh's Hamirpur, Ravi Shankar Prasad from Bihar's Patna Sahib and actor Kangana Ranaut from Himachal Pradesh's Mandi.
Congress' Manish Tewari is contesting from Chandigarh while Vikramaditya Singh is in the fray from Himachal Pradesh's Mandi and Ajay Rai from Varanasi. Mamata Banerjee's nephew and Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee is contesting from Diamond Harbour.