Campaigning for LS polls' 3rd phase ends

New Delhi: Campaigning for the third phase of polling in 116 parliamentary constituencies on April 23 ended Sunday with top leaders making a last-gasp effort to sway voters in favour of their respective parties. Polling will be held in the 115 seats, spread across 14 States and Union Territories.

All seats in Gujarat (26), Kerala (20), Goa (2), Dadra and Nagar Haveli (1) and Daman and Diu (1) go to polls in the third of the seven-phase election. Besides, polling will be held in four seats in Assam, five in Bihar, seven in Chhattisgarh, one in Jammu and Kashmir, 14 in Karnataka, 14 in Maharashtra, six in Odisha, 10 in Uttar Pradesh, and five in West Bengal.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and a host of Union ministers among others canvassed for their party candidates in the past few days, undertaking whirlwind tours of constituencies. Among the key contestants in the fray are BJP chief Amit Shah (Gandhinagar, Gujarat), Congress president Rahul Gandhi (Wayanad, Kerala), and Samajwadi Party patron Mulayam Singh Yadav (Mainpuri, UP).

During campaigning in Gujarat, the ruling BJP and the Opposition Congress exchanged acrimonious barbs.