Campaigning ends for third phase LS polls

New Delhi: Campaigning for the third phase of Lok Sabha elections ended on Sunday. As many as 117 constituencies, spread over 13 States and two Union Territories, will go to polls in this phase on Tuesday. In Odisha, six Lok Sabha seats and 42 Assembly constituencies will go to polls in this phase.

In Chhattisgarh, the third phase of polling on Tuesday will mark the completion of Lok Sabha elections in the state. State chief electoral officer Subrat Sahoo said, 123 candidates are in the fray in seven Lok Sabha seats going to polls in this phase.

In Maharashtra, 14 Lok Sabha seats will go to polls in the third phase. In Goa, polling for two Lok Sabha constituencies and by-polls to three Assembly seats will be held in the third phase.

Since poll timings vary in different seats, the campaigning period also ended at different times between 3 pm and 6 pm, 48 hours before the voting closure time at each constituency.

The 48-hour period preceding the conclusion of voting is called the "silence period" during which any kind of political campaigning is prohibited. Earlier, 115 constituencies were to go to polls in the third phase, while polling will be held in one phase of Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag constituency.

Polling to Tripura East, which was slated in the second phase, was deferred to the third phase on security concerns.