"I urge everyone to cast their vote": Padma awardee Pandit Chhannulal Mishra in Varanasi

In a conversation with ANI, he said, "I urge everyone to cast their vote...This is for the entire country...There is a difference between the Kashi which was there before and the Kashi which is there now. This has transformed, it is all due to PM Modi...More should be done for music. Music is the heritage of our country, the identity of Banaras..."

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The seventh and final phase of polling in the largest festival of democracy started on Saturday as voting started in the 57 parliamentary constituencies of seven states at 7 am.

The seven states are Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and the Union Territory of Chandigarh. Polling for the remaining 42 Assembly Constituencies of the Odisha State Legislative Assembly is also taking place simultaneously.

The seventh phase marks a grand finish to the world's largest polling marathon that began on the 19th of last month and has already covered six phases and 486 Lok Sabha seats.

According to the Election Commission of India, over 10.06 crore electors including approximately 5.24 crore male, 4.82 crore female and 3574 third gender electors are expected to exercise their franchise.

A total of 904 candidates are in the fray for the final phase of polling. The prominent candidates in the fray in this phase include Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Ravi Shankar Prasad, Nishikant Dubey, Ravneet Singh Bittu, Congress leaders Manish Tewari, Charanjit Singh Channi, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Misa Bharti.

Polling for the earlier six phases of Lok Sabha elections was held on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20 and May 25. Assembly polls have also been held in Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh and Odisha. (ANI)