Lok Sabha polls 2019: Quick guide to third phase of elections due on April 23

In the third phase of Lok Sabha election, polls will be held in 117 constituencies, marking the maximum number of seats going to polls on April 23.

The entire states of Gujarat, Kerala, Goa will go to polls. Other states where polling will be held in the third phase include Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar, Assam and Union Territories - Daman & Diu and Dadra Nagar Haveli.

With the entire state going to the polls, Kerala will see the straight battle between ruling Left Front and the Congress-led alliance in which BJP is expected to play a spoilsport.

The key constituencies include Wayanad, from where Congress' Rahul Gandhi is contesting against CPI's PP Suneer and NDA's Tushar Vellapally. 

In Thiruvananthapuram, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor is in a three-way battle with BJP's Rajasekaran and Left front's C Diwakaran.

Pathanamthitta is also a key constituency to watch out for as the Bharatiya Janata Party is expected to gain a section of voters amid the Sabarimala row.

In Pathanamthitta, Congress has fielded incumbent Anto Antony, while the CPI(M) has nominated Aranmula Veena George. From BJP's side K Surendran, state general secretary will be fighting the election.

Total 573 candidates are in the fray for the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat. Both the major parties - the Congress as well as the BJP - have fielded candidates from all 26 seats.

What's different in this year's general election is that PM Narendra Modi is not contesting election from Vadodara, from where he had won in 2014 with a clean sweep.

Vadodara can certainly not be missed. The seat was won by PM Modi in 2014 election. This year, Ranjanben Bhatt is contesting from BJP who will face Congress' Prashant Patel and Rohit Madhusudan Mohanbhai.

Maharashtra which has a total of 48 seats, is also going to the polls in phase 3. Here, elections are being held in four phases. In this phase, 14 seats are going to the polls. 

In Maharashtra, there is a direct fight between the ruling party and the opposition alliance led by the Congress and the NCP. 

Kolhapur, Madha, Pune, Ahmednagar, Raigad, Aurangabad are some of the key constituencies to go to polls in the BJP-ruled state. 

In 2014, the BJP and the Shiv Sena came together and won the election by bagging 42 out of 48 seats. This year as well BJP is fighting together with Shiv Sena. In the second phase of Lok Sabha polls, which was conducted on April 18, the state recorded 62.27 per cent voter turnout. 

The largest number of constituencies are in Uttar Pradesh where voting will be conducted in seven phases. In this phase, 10 constituencies are going to polls of total 80 constituencies. 

Here, the fight is between ruling BJP, the Congress and an alliance led by SP-BSP-RLD. So far a total of 16 constituencies have gone to polls. 

Among the key constituencies that will go to polls in the third phase is Mainpuri from where SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav is contesting against BJP's Prem Singh Shakya. Interestingly Mainpuri is among the few seats from where BJP has never won. 

Rampur is also going to the polls in the third phase from where BJP's Jaya Prada is contesting against SP's Azam Khan.   

Moradabad, Rampur, Sambhal, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etah, Badaun, Aonla, Bareilly and Pilibhit will go to polls on Tuesday. 

In West Bengal's political battleground, the key players are Trinamool Congress' Mamata Banerjee, BJP, CPI(M), and Congress. The voting in West Bengal is being held in seven phases and in this phase five constituencies will hold the elections. 

The last two phases were marred by violence as clashes were reported between TMC and BJP workers.

Among the constituencies that will be holding elections are Balurghat, Malda North, Malda South, Jangipur, Murshidabad. 

In Malda, the battle will be between the 'first cousins' of a veteran political family.

Isha Khan, son of Congress stalwart Abu Haseem Choudhury, will be contesting against his first cousin Mausam Noor who is a sitting MP from Malda North. Mausam Noor won the MP seat under the Congress banner.

Seven of eleven Lok Sabha constituencies in Chhattisgarh will go to polls on Tuesday.  The Congress has fielded Atal Shrivastav, state party general secretary, from the key constituency Bilaspur against BJP's Arun Sao. The BJP denied ticket to its incumbent MP Lakhan Lal Sahu.

In Durg, BJP is contesting against Congress' Pratima Chandrakar and BSP's Geetanjali Singh. 

In a first for any constituency in India, voting will be held in three phases in Kashmir's Anantnag seat, which falls in the militancy-hit region. 

Explaining the move, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora had said, "We will have to carry out three phases of election for just one constituency of Anantnag... so you can imagine how complicated it is."  

The polling has also been reduced by two hours. Voting will begin at 7:00 am and will continue until 4:00 am on Tuesday.

Anantnag constituency includes four volatile districts, Shopian, Anantnag, Kulgam and Pulwama.

Anantnag elected Mehbooba Mufti in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and was seen as a stronghold of her People’s Democratic Party until it joined hands with the BJP to form the government in 2015. The alliance broke last year.

Among the Union Territories that are going to the polls on April 23 are Daman & Diu and Dadra Nagar Haveli - both are represented by single constituency in the Lok Sabha.

From BJP's side, Lalubhai Patel, a two time MP from Daman & Diu, has been fielded. He will be contesting against Congress' Ketan Patel.

In Dadra Nagar Haveli, BJP's Natubhai Gomanbhai Patel will contesting against Prabhu Ratnabhai Tokiya.