Silvassa, April 23: The polling in the third phase of Lok Sabha Elections 2019 in Dadra and Nagar Haveli ended at 5 pm . The Union Territory (UT)  has a single representation in the 543-seat Lok Sabha. The only seat in the UT is reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST). The polling in the UT took place in a single-phase manner today, i.e. Tuesday. A total of 71.43 percent voter turnout recorded in the UT. The third phase of General Elections 2019 witnessed voting in 116 constituencies across 15 states and UTs.

The parliamentary constituency of Dadra and Nagar Haveli is one the smallest constituencies, in terms of voters, in the country. To be precise, it is the fourth smallest in India, after Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu, and Ladakh. The voter count in the region is little over the 2 lakh, with the total population recorded at 343,709 as per the census data of 2011. Dadra and Nagar Haveli Lok Sabha Constituency: Candidates, Current MP, Polling Date and Election Results 2019.

The constituency of Dadra and Nagar Haveli witnessed its first election in the year 1967. Since then, the UT has witnessed elections for a total of 13 times. In them, the Indian National Congress (INC) has won a majority of six times, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won only thrice. Nonetheless, the sitting MP of the UT is Natubhai Patel of the BJP.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections, Natubhai Gomanbhai Patel of the BJP was polled 48.88% of votes. The second-placed Mohanbhai Delkar of Congress’ vote share was recorded at 45.12%. The victory margin was marginal at nearly 5,000 votes. Notably, the 2,962 voters had voted for ‘None of the Above’ (NOTA) option. Lok Sabha Elections 2019 Schedule: Voting In 7 Phases From April 11 to May 19, Counting And Results On May 23.

Fast forward to 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, the battle of Dadra and Nagar Haveli had a two-way fight between BJP’s Natubhai Patel, fought anti-incumbency of two terms, and Congress’ Prabhu Tokiya.

On March 10, the Election Commission (EC) had announced the schedule of 2019 Lok Sabha Elections. The EC had also said that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPATs) will be used in all constituencies across India.

The Lok Sabha Elections 2019 will take place in seven phases from April 11 to May 19. The results will be out on May 23. Along with the electorate in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, the voters in Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Daman and Diu, Gujarat, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal also cast their vote today.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 23, 2019 07:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).