Out of 57 going to polls on June 1, BJP won 28 and Congress only 8

Out of 57 seats going to vote on Saturday, June 1;  the had won 25 but the Congress had only 8  in 2019

NDA received 39.03% of the votes in these constituencies five years ago compared to INDIA parties’ 37.52% vote share.

After almost 80 days of campaigning, voting in the Lok Sabha elections concludes on Saturday with 57 seats across eight states and Union Territories going to polls. 

Punjab will also go for voting in parliamentary constituencies.

Local booth workeres say the BJP is confiden5 of good fight to winning chance in four constituencies Amritsar, Faridkot, Patiala and Gurdaspur.

This has been the second-longest parliamentary election since the first Lok Sabha election in 1951-’52.

After the polls close, all eyes will be on the exit po

lls on June 1 evening and the results on June 4. By the end of Saturday, polling will be completed at one go in all 13 seats in Punjab and all four seats in Himachal Pradesh. The other states that will vote are Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal — where polling was held across all seven phases — and Jharkhand and Odisha, where Assembly polls are also being held simultaneously

In 2019, the parties constituting the Opposition INDIA bloc and the ruling BJP-led NDA won 19 and 30 of these 57 seats, respectively. The BJP alone won 25 of these constituencies.

 Among the INDIA bloc members, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Congress won the most seats at nine and eight, respectively. Several unaligned parties also bagged several constituencies: the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) won four seats in Odisha, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) won two in UP, and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) won two in Punjab.

In terms of vote share, the parties that constitute NDA received 39.03% of the votes compared to the 37.52% vote share of the INDIA bloc parties. In 2014, the NDA won 39 of these seats and the INDIA alliance parties won 11, with 10 going to other parties.

There are 904 candidates in the fray on Saturday. The BSP has fielded the most candidates at 56, followed by the BJP at 51, and the Congress at 31. With all of Punjab voting on Saturday, the state has the most candidates in this phase at 328, followed by 144 candidates in Uttar Pradesh’s 13 seats, 134 in Bihar’s 8 seats, and 124 in West Bengal’s 9 seats.

Candidate breakdownCandidate breakdown

Of the 199 candidates with criminal cases, Punjab has the most at 69, followed by Uttar Pradesh at 36, and Bihar at 30. 

The Ludhiana and Patiala seats in Punjab have the most candidates with cases at 9 each. There are also 151 candidates, or 17% of the total, with serious criminal cases. 

Among the major parties, the BJP has the most candidates with criminal cases at 23, accounting for 45% of its candidates in this phase, while the TMC and Samajwadi Party (SP) have the highest proportion of such candidates at 78%.

Of the 299 crorepati candidates in this phase, Punjab has the most at 102, followed by Uttar Pradesh at 55, and Bihar at 50.

 Among the parties, the BJP has the most crorepati candidates at 44, or 86% of its candidates in this phase, followed by the Congress at 30, or 97%, and the BSP at 22 or 39%. As a share of all candidates, Himachal Pradesh tops Phase 7 in crorepati candidates at 62%.

Harsimrat Kaur Badal (SAD), contesting from Punjab’s Bathinda | Assets: Rs 198.52 crore

Baijayant Panda (BJP), contesting from Odisha’s Kendrapara | Assets: Rs 148.09 crore

Youngest: Two candidates aged 25, from minor parties

Oldest: 87-year-old Independent K Rangaiah, contesting from Jharkhand’s Godda

Punjab and Chandigarh pollsPunjab and Chandigarh polls

BIHAR

Total seats: 39 (8 seats in Phase 7)

Total electors: 7.66 crore

First-time voters: 9.26 lakh

Bihar pollsBihar polls

WEST BENGAL

Total seats: 42 (9 seats in Phase 7)

Total electors: 7.6 crore

First-time voters: 11.34 lakh

West Bengal pollsWest Bengal polls

UTTAR PRADESH

Total seats: 80 (13 seats in Phase 7)

Total electors: 15.32 crore

ODISHA

Total seats: 21 (6 seats in Phase 7)

Total electors: 3.33 crore

First-time voters: 8 lakh

5 CONTESTS TO WATCH OUT FOR

Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh: Prime Minister Narendra Modi (BJP) vs Congress state chief Ajay Rai | 2019 winner: BJP

Diamond Harbour, West Bengal: TMC general secretary and sitting MP Abhishek Banerjee vs youth leader Pratikur Rehman (CPM) vs Abhijit “Bobby” Das (BJP) | 2019 winner: TMC

Bathinda, Punjab: Former Union minister and sitting MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal (SAD) vs sitting MLA Gurmeet Singh Khudian (AAP) vs former bureaucrat Parampal Kaur Sidhu (BJP) vs former MLA Jeetmohinder Singh Sidhu (Cong) | 2019 winner: SAD

Patna Sahib, Bihar: Former Union minister and sitting MP Ravi Shankar Prasad (BJP) vs party spokesperson Anshul Avijit (Cong) | 209 winner: BJP

Mandi, Himachal Pradesh: State Cabinet minister Vikramaditya Singh (Cong) vs actor-politician Kangna Ranaut (BJP) | 2019 winner: Congress

Ends