The Statesman | #AsiaNewsNetwork (The Statesman/ANN) —Among the 59 seats is the high-profile Varanasi from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a second term. The PM was in Kedarnath on Saturday, said to be meditating in a cave after offering prayers at the famous Lord Shiva shrine ahead of the big day. He will be praying at Badrinath today before flying back to Delhi.
All 13 seats in Punjab are voting today, and an equal number of seats in Uttar Pradesh. Besides, the remaining nine seats in West Bengal, eight each in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, four in Himachal Pradesh, three in Jharkhand and the lone seat in Chandigarh too are going to polls today.
As many as 918 candidates are int he fray and over 10.01 crore voters will be deciding their fate.
The Election Commission has set up more than 1.12 lakh polling stations.
In Panaji, a bypoll, necessitated due to the death of former chief minister Manohar Parrikar in March 2019, is being held today. Besides, by-elections are taking place in four Assembly constituencies of Tamil Nadu — Sulur, Aravakurichi, Ottapidaram (SC) and Thiruparankundram.
Besides, repolling is being held in several booths.
In the last six phases, a voter turnout of 66.88 per cent was recorded.
The verdict will be out on May 23, 2019.
Here is our live blog. Stay tuned to catch the latest updates on the seventh phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, which will be followed by exit polls.
https://www.thestatesman.com/elections-2019/lok-sabha-elections-2019-pha...
