Voting under way for 93 seats in phase 3 of Lok Sabha polls: What's at stake

In the 3rd phase today, the LS poll moves to saffron bastions, mainly in the west. Whether it’s BJP’s '400 paar' call or INDIA bloc’s challenge, this is a critical round for both. Porbandar to Malda, there’s no dearth of prestige fights, but the big intrigues lie in Maharashtra. More than 50% of Parl seats would’ve voted after this phase

What's at stake in phase 3

BJP

To defend: 79 seats, including all 26 in Gujarat (*it has won Surat uncontested), all 14 polling today in Karnataka, all 9 in MR 9 out of 10 in UP, 7 of 11 in Maharashtra, 6 of 7 in Chhattisgarh, all 5 in Bihar, 2 in Dadra Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, and each in Goa, West Bengal.

Can look for gains in: West Bengal where it had lost 3 of the 4 seats polling today in 2019.

INDIA

To defend: 10 seats, including 4 of the 11 in Maharashtra, 3 of the 4 in West Bengal, Trinamool having two of them last time and Congress one, and 1 each in Chhattisgarh, Goa and UP.

Can look for gains in: Almost all the states in this round, but more so in Karnataka, where Congress lost all the 14 seats last time and is hoping to do significantly better.

What this excludes: The 4 Assam seats polling today, which are not possible to categorise as having been won by any party last time since seat boundaries have been redrawn since 2019.