Prime Minister Narendra Modi this morning cast his vote at a school in Ahmedabad during the third phase voting for the Lok Sabha polls. The Nishan Higher Secondary School in the city's Ranip locality has been designated a polling booth.
The Prime Minister reached the polling station a little after 7:30 am. Union Minister Amit Shah welcomed him and the two leaders walked to the booth. A huge crowd that had gathered to catch a glimpse of PM Modi cheered from the roadside and raised slogans for him.
On his way to the voting booth, he gave his autograph to a supporter on a portrait that he had drawn of the Prime Minister.
Outside the booth, the Prime Minister urged citizens of the country to cast their votes in large numbers since it holds a big significance
in a democracy. "There is great importance of 'daan' in our country and in the same spirit, the countrymen should vote as much as possible. Four rounds of voting are still ahead," said PM Modi.
He also had a message for mediapersons providing non-stop coverage of the elections: "take care of your health and drink a lot of water."
Mr Shah, who is contesting from Gandhinagar, cast his vote later in the day along with his family.
Voting is underway in 93 constituencies across 10 states and a Union Territory today in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections.

With the Election Commission of India declaring May 13 as the polling day for the Lok Sabha elections in Andhra Pradesh, the State is all set to witness what is being referred to as the ‘mother of all elections’. A total of 4.09 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise to vote.

These elections will witness a direct fight between the ruling YSR Congress Party led by incumbent Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and the TDP-BJP-JSP alliance led by veteran TDP leader and three-time Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu. Congress is also in the fray hoping to regain its glory in the residuary State post bifurcation.

The YSRCP will be aiming to repeat their 2019 victory where they won 22 out of the 25 Lok Sabha seats and secured nearly half the votes polled, as Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy is riding high on his welfare schemes.

For Mr. Naidu and JSP chief Pawan Kalyan, it is a do-or-die battle. The election results will decide the very existence of the parties in the political arena. For the BJP, it is a matter of prestige, as it is a part of the alliance.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said in Madhya Pradesh on May 5 that his party, if elected to power in the ongoing Lok Sabha election, will increase the wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) to ₹400 per day.
“The press says that MGNREGA ruins the people’s habits. You do the labour and get paid for it but the media says your habits are getting ruined. But when the loans of billionaires get waved, they call that development. We have made up our mind that today you get ₹250 under MGNREGA but after the elections you will get ₹400,” Mr. Gandhi said, addressing an election rally in Alirajpur under the Ratlam Lok Sabha constituency.
Later in the day, Mr. Gandhi also addressed a rally in Segaon under the Khargone Lok Sabha segment of the State. Both the constituencies are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST).
Mr. Gandhi also claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would not even get 150 seats in these elections.
Once again terming the ongoing elections as being about saving the Constitution and reservations, the Congress leader alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) wanted to “change and finish” the Constitution.
“If the Constitution gets finished, all the rights you have got will disappear. You jal, zameen aur jungle (water, land and forest), and reservation and the public sector will all disappear, and only 22-25 people will rule India,” Mr. Gandhi said.
“These are the billionaires of India and people like Adani, who have eyes on your land, water and forest. They want that your land, water and forests be taken from you and handed over to them. And they are special friends of Narendra Modi-ji,” he added, aiming to draw the dominant tribal population of the region.
“BJP leaders have clearly said that they will change this book (the Constitution) and keep it aside if they win the elections. This is why they had given the slogan of 400 seats (abki baar, 400 paar). Forget about 400, they won’t even get 150 seats,” he said, holding a copy of the Constitution in his hands. Alleging that various BJP had talked about snatching reservation from the poor, tribals, Dalits and backward classes, Mr. Gandhi said that his party would remove the upper limit of 50% on reservation.
“We will move aside the limit of 50% set by the court and will give the poor, Dalits, backward classes and tribals as much reservation as they need,” the Congress leader said.
He also hit out at the BJP over the Sidhi urination incident from July 2023, when allegedly a BJP leader had urinated on a tribal man, and on a recent case in Alirajpur, where a minor tribal girl was gang-raped by two tribal boys. The Congress has alleged that the accused were related to State government Minister Nagar Singh Chauhan, whose wife Anita Nagar Singh Chauhan is the BJP candidate from Ratlam.
The Congress has been making attempts to woo the tribals of the region and Mr. Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra had also passed through Ratlam in March.
The Opposition party has fielded former Union Minister Kanjilal Bhuria from Ratlam against Ms. Chauhan. In Khargone, the Congress has fielded Porlal Kharte against the BJP’s Gajendra Patel.
While nine seats of Madhya Pradesh will go to the polls in the third phase on May 7, the remaining eight seats, including Ratlam and Khargone, will vote in the fourth phase on May 13.

India General Elections 2024 highlights: Voting began at 7 am on Tuesday for the third phase of the 2024 Indian elections, encompassing 93 constituencies across 11 states and Union Territories. Key contenders include Amit Shah, Shivraj Chouhan, Dimple Yadav and Digvijaya Singh. Follow- Elections 2024: Read Elections 2024 News and Lok Sabha Election Updates Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Elections: Key points
• In the third phase of elections, prominent candidates include Union home minister Amit Shah, seeking re-election from Gujarat's Gandhinagar, and Union ministers Jyotiraditya Scindia, Mansukh Mandaviya and Pralhad Joshi contesting from various constituencies.
• This phase holds key implications for the political landscape, particularly in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, with high-profile candidates and familial legacies at stake.
• Maharashtra's Baramati, considered a stronghold of the 'Pawar family', witnesses a significant contest between NCP founder Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule and Sunetra Pawar, wife of Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar.
• The late Mulayam Singh Yadav's family is also prominent in this phase, with three members contesting. Akhilesh Yadav's wife Dimple Yadav, Akshay Yadav and Aditya Yadav are vying for seats in Uttar Pradesh.
Follow Karnataka Lok Sabha Elections Phase 3 Live Updates
Lok Sabha election schedule
Phase 1: April 19 (polling done)
Phase 2: April 26 (polling done)
Phase 3: May 7 (polling today)
Phase 4: May 13
Phase 5: May 20
Phase 6: May 25
Phase 7: June 1
Counting (for all 543 seats): June 4

Supreme Court Hears Arvind Kejriwal's Request For Bail To Campaign A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta will begin proceedings.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court will deliberate today on whether to grant interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has been under arrest since March 21 and is currently confined in Tihar jail under judicial custody, in connection with a money laundering case linked to the scrapped Delhi excise policy.
A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta will begin proceedings by considering the plea of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader. The Supreme Court on May 3, hinted at the possibility of granting interim bail to Mr Kejriwal in light of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. Acknowledging the potentially time-consuming nature of the legal proceedings, the court expressed its willingness to hear arguments from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) regarding interim relief to the AAP chief before elections in Delhi that are scheduled for May 25.
During the previous hearing, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, representing the ED, expressed opposition to Mr Kejriwal's bail, citing statements made by AAP leader Sanjay Singh following his release on bail in a related case.