Here is analysis of 2019 Lok Sabha candidates

New Delhi, May 11: India has gone through five phases of the seven-phased Lok Sabha elections.

Voting will be conducted for the sixth phase on May 12 in Bihar for 08 seats, Delhi 07 seats, Haryana 10 seats, Jharkhand 04 seats, Madhya Pradesh 08 seats, Uttar Pradesh 14 seats, and West Bengal 08 seats.

In the seventh and final phase on May 19, voting will be conducted in 59 parliamentary constituencies of eight states and Union Territories.

Out of these 59 constituencies, 13 are in Uttar Pradesh, 13 in Punjab, 09 in West Bengal, 08 in Bihar, 08 in Madhya Pradesh, 04 in Himachal Pradesh, 03 in Jharkhand, 01 in Chandigarh.

There are 8,039 candidates contesting for 542 Parliamentary constituency seats in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, says the PRS Legislative Research data.

On average, 14.8 candidates are contesting per constituency across the country. Among all the states, Telangana has the highest average number of candidates contesting. This is primarily due to 185 contestants from Nizamabad. Excluding Nizamabad, the state's average number of contestants would be 16.1.

Among the Union Territories, Chandigarh has the highest average number of candidates contesting. There are 36 candidates in the fray for one seat.

Delhi and Haryana have a high number of candidates contesting from parties that have not been recognised as either national or state parties.

After Telangana, Tamil Nadu has the highest average of independent candidates contesting in this election. On average, of the candidates in each constituency in Tamil Nadu, two-thirds are contesting as independent candidates.

After Nizamabad, the second highest number of candidate representation is seen in Belgaum, Karnataka. The five constituencies that have the highest candidate representation are from the southern states of Telangana, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.

The seven national parties together fielded 2.69 candidates per constituency.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress are contesting 435 and 420 seats respectively. In 373 seats they are in competition with each other. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has the third highest number of candidates contesting in this election. It has fielded 383 candidates.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has fielded 69, All India Trinamool Congress 62, Communist Party of India 48, and Nationalist Congress Party 34 candidates.

The highest number of candidates (969) is contesting in 79 seats of Uttar Pradesh. Maharashtra is on the second spot where the fate of 867 candidates is already locked in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) who are in the fray in 48 seats. Tamil Nadu is on the third spot with 845 candidates in 39 seats.

Bihar is on the fourth spot with 626 candidates contesting in 40 seats followed by Karnataka with 478 candidates contesting in 28 seats.

The other states where more than 200 candidates are in the fray are: West Bengal- 466 candidates in 42 seats; Telangana- 443 candidates in 17 seats; Madhya Pradesh- 438 candidates in 29 seats; Gujarat- 371 candidates in 26 seats; Andhra Pradesh- 319 candidates in 25 seats; Punjab- 278 candidates in 13 seats; Rajasthan- 249 candidates in 25 seats; Jharkhand- 229 candidates in 14 seats; Kerala- 227 candidates in 20 seats; and Haryana- 223 candidates in 10 seats.

There are four states where the number of contesting candidates is more than 100 but below 200. These states are: Odisha- 174 candidates in 21 seats; Chhattisgarh- 166 candidates in 11 seats; Delhi- 164 candidates in 07 seats; and Assam- 145 candidates in 14 seats.

There are less than 10 candidates in Meghalaya, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Daman & Diu, and Nagaland.