Final round today, voting begins for 86 seats

New Delhi: Voters in 86 constituencies spread across seven states and two union territories have begun casting their ballot in the fifth and final phase of the 15th Lok Sabha elections that will conclude on Wednesday.

There are a total of 1,432 candidates including 93 women in the fray and close to 10.78 crore voters.

Voting is being held for all 39 seats in Tamil Nadu, four seats in Himachal Pradesh, two in Jammu and Kashmir, nine in Punjab, 14 in Uttar Pradesh, 11 in West Bengal, five in Uttarakhand and the one seat each in both Chandigarh and Puducherry.

The fate of important leaders including Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Maneka Gandhi, Varun Gandhi, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Samajwadi Party's Jaya Prada, Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam (DMK) candidates M K Azhagiri, T R Baalu, A Raja, Dayanidhi Maran, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's (MDMK) Vaiko, Congress candidate and former cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin, People's Conference Chairman Sajjad Lone will be decided today.

Unlike previous elections, where parties fought on national concerns, local issues seem to be the deciding factor for voters this time.

Tamil Nadu could prove ot the game changer of General Elections 2009 as the political alliance winning maximum seats in the seat is expected to play a crucial role in who will form the next government in Delhi.

The spotlight is on DMK candidate and Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's son M K Azhagiri. Congress' only big player in Tamil Nadu is Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, who is contesting from Sivaganga.

Chidambaram has been elected to Lok Sabha from Sivaganga six times since 1984 and has lost only once in 1999.

Congress' Mani Shankar Aiyar, who is the Panchayati Raj Minister, is in the fray from Mayiladuthurai.

But the momentum in Tamil Nadu seems to be in favour of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)-PMK alliance.

In West Bengal the fight is between the Trinamool-Congress alliance and the Left Front. The Left Front is expected to suffer loss of a few seats in the state while the BJP remains a minor player in the state.

Punjab is also expected to prove to be a tough battle for the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP alliance with the Congress likely to improve its tally. But the BJP will hope to do well in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand where it is in power.

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Even after the first four phase of voting there is no clear indication about which party of alliance will emerge with most seats with both the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance and BJP-led National Democratic Alliance likely to fall short of the half-way mark of 272 required to form a government.

The Third Front, an alliance of Left and small regional parties is likely to play a big role in the formation of the next government although it seems to be disintegrating.

A party or a coalition needs 272 seats in the Lok Sabha to stake claim to form a government.

The Lok Sabha has 545 members, but elections are held to 543 seats as two members are nominated from the Anglo- Indian community.

Polling has been completed to 457 Lok Sabha seats since the exercise began on April 16 amid stray violence that left over 20 dead. Results will be out on May 16.

Elections would be held across 1.21 lakh polling booths.

The numbers

As many as 5,995 villages and hamlets have been identified as prone to intimidation and over 18,000 people troublemakers.

In Baramulla and Ladakh Parliamentary constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir, tight security arrangements have been put in place in view of poll boycott called by separatists.

Security forces have taken positions well in advance around 1,946 polling stations in the constituencies to instil confidence among the over 12 lakh electors, officials said.

Although there was no violence during election campaign, security forces have been put on maximum alert and the borders of the constituencies have been sealed.

There are 18 candidates in the fray in the two constituencies. In Baramulla, there are 13 contestants including the former separatist leader Sajjad Gani Lone, and five in Ladakh.