Polling for the fourth phase of Lok Sabha election in 72 parliamentary constituencies spread across nine States were held on Monday. The stakes were high for the ruling BJP and its allies as it had swept 56 of these seats in 2014, leaving just two for the Congress and the rest for other opposition parties such as the Trinamool Congress (six) and the Biju Janata Dal (six).
Election in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, where the BJP had cornered all but two of the total 54 seats in 2014, began in this phase. The Congress appeared to make a comeback, forming the governments in the States after last year’s Assembly polls.
Voters travel in an overloaded boat to reach their polling booths in Darbhanga district, Bihar, on April 29, 2019. Five Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar, including Darbhanga, went to polls in the fourth phase of general elections.
Voters showing their ID cards as they stand in a queue to cast their vote at a polling station in Jabalpur. The seat has been with the BJP since 1996, and the Congress, fresh from the M.P. Assembly election victory, wants to win it back.
These women of Kundacha village, near Jawahar town, prefer to fetch water over casting their votes. In drought-hit Palghar district, tankers fill dry wells with water.
Voters flash their ink-marked fingers near a polling station in Ajmer, Rajasthan. In January 2018 bypoll, the Congress had won the Ajmer constituency by a margin of over 84,000 votes.
A relative assists an elderly woman at a booth in Gulzarabad, Kulgam district in Jammu and Kashmir. This is the second of the three phase voting in Anantnag parliamentary constituency.
Women stand in a queue at a polling station in Birbhum, West Bengal. Celebrity candidate Satabdi Roy of the TMC is pitted against BJP’s Dudh Kumar Mondal, Congress’ Imam Hossain and the CPI(M)’s Rezaul Karim for the seat.
Horse-mounted policemen guard a polling station in Munger, Bihar. Voting was delayed due to EVM malfunctioning at three polling stations in Munger.
Industrialist Anil Ambani coming out after voting at Cuff Parade in South Mumbai. The polling process was monitored through web-casting at 65 critical booths in suburban Mumbai.
Bollywood actor Aamir Khan and his wife Kiran Rao, after casting vote at a polling station in Mumbai. Over 40,400 security personnel were deployed in the metropolis for the smooth conduct of the polls.
Voters displaying their voter ID cards as they stand in a queue to cast their votes at a polling station in Jagatpur area of Cuttack. This is the final phase of polling in Odisha, except for Patkura Assembly seat where voting is slated to be held on May 19.
Published - April 29, 2019 10:40 pm IST
