Lok Sabha polls: BJP to defend 45 seats in phase six

NEW DELHI: The penultimate phase of Lok Sabha elections on Sunday will see 59 parliamentary constituencies spread over seven states going to the polls with the BJP having maximum at stake as it has to defend 45 seats it won in 2014.

Over 10.17 crore voters will decide the fate of 979 candidates in the sixth phase of Lok Sabha elections. The Election Commission has set up 1.13 lakh polling stations for the smooth conduct of elections.

Voting will take place for 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, all 10 in Haryana, eight each in West Bengal, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, four in Jharkhand and all the seven seats in Delhi.

The key constituencies outside Delhi include Morena, Guna and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, Sultanpur, Allahbad and Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, East Champaran in Bihar and Hisar, Sonipat and Rohtak in Hayrana.

In 2014, the BJP had won seven of the eight seats in Bihar, eight of 10 in Haryana, all four in Jharkhand, seven of eight in Madhya Pradesh and 12 of 14 in Uttar Pradesh. It had won all the seven seats in Delhi.

BJP's allies Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and Apna Dal had won one seat each. The Congress had won two seats while the Samajwadi Party and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) had won one seat apiece.

The Trinamool Congress had won all the eight seats going to the polls in the sixth phase in West Bengal.