Fifth phase of LS polls in 121 seats on Thursday

New Delhi: India will witness elections in the maximum number of seats in a single phase on Thursday when polling will be held in 121 seats across 12 states as Lok Sabha elections will cross the half-way mark in the more than a month-long exercise.

Nandan Nilekani (Cong), Maneka Gandhi, former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda (JD-S), Union Minister Veerappa Moily (Cong) and Srikant Jena, Supriya Sule and Lalu Prasad`s eldest daughter Misa Bharti figure among the 1,769 candidates in the fifth of the nine-phased elections. Tomorrow an electorate of 16.61 crore have the right to exercise their franchise. Of the total seats, Congress has 36 seats while its main challenger BJP has 40 seats. Polling will take place in 28 seats in Karnataka, followed by Rajasthan (20), Maharashtra (19), Uttar Pradesh and Odisha (11 each), Madhya Pradesh (10), Bihar (7), Jharkhand (6), West Bengal (4), Chhattisgarh (3), Jammu and Kashmir and Manipur (1each). Karnataka witnessed intense campaign by both national as well as state bigwigs for a sharply bipolar fight. Prominent candidates in the fray include Nandan Nilekani (Cong), former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda (JD-S) and Union Minister Veerappa Moily (Cong).