TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: More than 14.40 crore voters in 107 parliamentary constituencies spread across nine states and two union territories will exercise their franchise in the third phase of polls on Thursday.
Deputy election commissioner J P Prakash said that of a total of 1.65 lakh polling stations, 15,193 in 10 parliamentary constituencies in Bihar and West Bengal have been classified as naxal-affected areas in the third phase.
Prakash said as many as 19,763 villages have been identified as vulnerable to intimidation of voters and 45,843 persons would be kept under watch in these areas.
Simultaneous polls would be held to the 32-member Sikkim assembly for which 167 candidates, including 15 women, are in the fray.
In case of Sikkim, a unique feature is going to be the Sangha assembly constituency. It is the only constituency in the country without a fixed geographical boundary. Prakash said the constituency is for Buddhist monks who are spread across the state. In every polling station, he said, there would be a separate EVM for the Sangha constituency. The Sangha monks can vote anywhere in their local areas. Thus, each polling station in Sikkim would have two EVMs — one for normal voters and another for the Sangha monks. There are 3,058 Sangha voters in the state.
Prakash said that over 6.6 lakh polling personnel would be on poll duty during the third phase. Two helicopters would be used in West Bengal and one in Bihar in view of the naxal problem in some areas, he said.
He said that the repoll in 115 polling stations in Jharkhand on Tuesday was completed peacefully.