Bahujan Samajwadi Party leader Mayawati on Tuesday appealed to voters to exercise their “invaluable constitutional right” to choose a government that will work in their favour as polling started for the third phase of Lok Sabha election.

“Voting for the third phase of election is underway to elect the 17th Lok Sabha. I appeal to all voters to participate in the polling in large numbers. Voting is your invaluable constitutional right and which will help you choose a government of your choice and welfare to make your life happy,” Mayawati tweeted in Hindi.

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“The country’s 130 crore people, and especially the crores of educated youth and unemployed, do not want a BJP government that forces them to sell pakodas and tea and become a security guard rather than giving them jobs and deploys harmful anti-people policies,” she wrote.

Watch | Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Big fights to watch out for in Phase 3 of voting

Polling is being held in 117 parliamentary constituencies in 15 states and Union Territories on Tuesday in the biggest of the seven-phase Lok Sabha election 2019. In 2014, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) finished ahead of the Congress in the seats which went to polls in the first and second phase, but was behind non-Congress, non-BJP parties.

Voting will take place for all the 26 constituencies in Gujarat, all the 20 seats in Kerala, 14 each in Maharashtra and Karnataka, ten in Uttar Pradesh, seven in Chhattisgarh, six in Odisha, five each in Bihar and West Bengal, four in Assam, two in Goa, one each in Jammu and Kashmir, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu and Tripura.

Mayawati’s BSP has formed an alliance with Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party and Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal, to challenge the BJP, which won 71 out of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh in 2014.

The fourth phase will see voting in 71 constituencies, the fifth phase in 51, the sixth in 59 and the seventh phase in 59. Counting of votes will be held on May 23.

First Published: Apr 23, 2019 08:10 IST