India General Elections 2024 highlights: 61.45% approximate voter turnout recorded today till 8 pm

Lok Sabha Election Phase 3 LIVE Updates: All eyes are on polling percentage at the 6 Lok Sabha seats of Braj region of western Uttar Pradesh going for polling today in 3rd phase of general elections. Mathura and Aligarh two remaining Lok Sabha seats of Braj reason went to polling during 2nd phase of Lok Sabha election. Mathura Loksabha constituency had recorded voter turn out of 49.41 percent which was lowest voter turn out among 16 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh that had gone for polling in first and second phase of election in the state.

Lok Sabha Election Phase 3 LIVE Updates: Union minister Parshottam Rupala votes with his family in Amreli. Rupala is contesting from Rajkot Lok Sabha constituency.

Lok Sabha Election Phase 3 LIVE Updates: After casting his vote, PM Narendra Modi said, "Today marks the third phase of voting. Just as 'Daan' holds great importance in our culture, every citizen should exercise their voting rights to the fullest extent possible. With four more rounds of voting to go, as a voter in Gujarat, this is the only place where I consistently vote, and Amit Bhai is contesting from here as the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate."

Lok Sabha Election Phase 3 LIVE Updates: Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar cast his vote in Baramati early morning. Ajit’s wife Sunetra and mother also exercised their right at Katewadi polling station in Baramati.

PM Narendra Modi casts his vote at Nishan Higher Secondary School in Ranip, Ahmedabad. The BJP has fielded home minister Amit Shah from the Gandhinagar constituency.

Baramati: Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar says, "The party leaders and the workers who campaign for their candidate always believe that their candidate will win. This is the beginning. It is still not 6pm. I am sure people will support our candidate. This election is for the development of Baramati..."

Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, his wife and NCP candidate from Baramati Lok Sabha seat Sunetra Pawar reach a polling booth to cast their vote.

Polling starts in Baramati Lok Sabha constituency where Supriya Sule, three term MP and daughter of Sharad Pawar is contesting against Sunetra Pawar, wife of Deputy CM Ajit Pawar. 

Madhya Pradesh BJP President and candidate from Khajuraho constituency VD Sharma casts his vote at a polling booth in Bhopal. BJP has fielded Alok Sharma from here, Congress has fielded Arun Shrivastava. BJP's Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur is the sitting MP from the constituency.

Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi arrives at a polling booth to cast his vote. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded its state unit chief CR Patil from Navsari seat and the Indian National Congress (INC) has fielded Naishadh Desai.

Congress leader Amit Deshmukh and his wife Aditi Deshmukh cast their votes at a polling booth in Latur. While BJP has fielded sitting MP Sudhakar Shrangare from here, he faces Congress' Kalge Bandappa here.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who is the BJP candidate for Gujarat's Gandhinagar, will both cast their vote in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Tuesday (May 7). The third phase will have big leaders from the ruling party and prominent names from the opposition INDIA bloc. A day before the polling, in a post on X, the prime minister said he will be voting in Ahmedabad, which is under the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency. He urged others to come out and cast their vote in "record numbers".

Voting has started for the four Lok Sabha seats in Assam in the third on Tuesday. Due to rain and windy conditions, polling percentages are likely to be affected. Voting is taking place for Guwahati, Dhubri, Kokrajhar and Barpeta seats on Tuesday. Polling in the remaining 10 seats in the state had taken place in the first two phases on April 19 and 26. In Guwahati, which has been experiencing light to heavy rain since Sunday, voters were seen standing in queues outside polling stations before the start of polling at 7 am.

“I appeal to all the voters of Karnataka and the country to cast their vote. Your one vote can change the nation for good,” says Union Minister and BJP candidate from Karnataka’s Dharwad Lok Sabha seat Pralhad Joshi

Voting for the third phase of Lok Sabha Elections 2024 begins. Polling being held in 93 constituencies across 11 states and Union Territories (UTs) today. 17.24 crore voters are casting their votes today

"In this phase (third phase), I think the voting percentage will be between 55-60 per cent. As far as Budaun is concerned, we have witnessed a kind of excitement among the people in the last three-four days," says Samajwadi Party's candidate from UP's Budaun Lok Sabha seat Aditya Yadav

Union home minister Amit Shah urged the voters to accept voting as a duty towards contributing to nation-building. 

“In the third phase of the Lok Sabha Election, I appeal to all the voters who are going to cast their votes today to accept voting as a duty towards contributing to nation-building. Once again, vote for a corruption-free, caste-free, and dynasticism-free system. Elect a government that has experience in public welfare and a blueprint for a developed India. Your vote will lay the foundation of good fortune for not only you but also for the entire nation for decades to come,” he said in a post on X. 

A special polling station has been set up in Burudmal village of Maharashtra’s Baramati constituency after 75 years of independence. Burudmal has the smallest voter population with just 41 voters.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday urged the voters of constituencies voting in the third phase to actively participate in the democratic process. 

 “Urging all those who are voting in today’s phase to vote in record numbers. Their active participation will certainly make the elections more vibrant,” he said in a post on X. 

Schools, colleges and banks will remain closed on May 7 in the parliamentary constituencies voting in the third phase. Liquor shops will also be shut in the areas going to polls on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Google launched a Doodle on its homepage, replacing its iconic logo with an image depicting an uplifted index finger marked with ink - a symbol synonymous with the democratic process of Indian elections. By clicking on the Doodle, users are directed to the search results related to the latest updates on the elections in India.

The stage is set for voting to four Lok Sabha seats in Assam on Tuesday during the third phase of polling. Four seats, Barpeta, Guwahati, Dhubri and Kokrajhar (ST), will go to polls on the final phase for the state. Polling in the 10 other seats in Assam took place in the first two phases on April 19 and 26. Over 8.14 million voters, 4.1 million male, 4.04 million female and 111 third gender, will decide the fates of 47 candidates, 41 men and 6 women, in fray in the four seats, Assam chief electoral officer Anurag Goel informed on Monday. Kokrajhar with 1.4 million has the least number of voters among the four seats while Dhubri with more than 2.6 million has the highest.

The Begusarai Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar, once a stronghold of the Congress where the Communist Party of India (CPI) also held sizeable influence — the Left party has won the seat once, in 1967 — is once again in the spotlight, set as it is for a battle between the BJP heavyweight, sitting MP and union minister Giriraj Singh, and the CPI, which sees a fighting chance this time to reclaim the seat with the support of Congress, RJD and other Left parties. BJP won the seat for the first time in 2014 parliamentary elections when Bhola Singh was elected. After his death, an initially reluctant Giriraj Singh, who was elected from his native place Nawada in 2014, recorded one of the biggest victories in the 2019 polls against CPI’s Kanhaiya Kumar, who was then at the peak of his popularity as the former president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union and enjoyed the backing of actors, academicians, social activists and others labelled as the liberals. Despite all the hype over the seat largely due to Kanhaiya’s presence, Giriraj defeated him by a margin of over 422,000 votes. Though the RJD also fought independently in 2019, its candidate Tanveer Hassan finished third with 198,000 votes. The total votes polled by Kanhaiya and Hassan wasn’t even close to Giriraj’s score. After the defeat, Kanhaiya joined the Congress and has been fielded this time from North-east Delhi seat.