Lok Sabha elections: First phase of polling begins for 102 constituencies

The first phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha election began on Friday, with 102 parliamentary constituencies across 17 states and four Union Territories going to polls. Voting is also underway for the 92 Assembly seats in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim.

The states that will vote in the first phase of the Lok Sabha election Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

Elections will also be held in the Union territories of Andaman and Nicobar, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshadweep, and Puducherry.

Voting began at 7 am and will end at 6 pm on most seats.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to exercise their franchise in record numbers and particularly called upon young and first-time voters to cast their ballot in large numbers.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge urged people to carefully cast their votes and said that a “new era of economic empowerment and equal opportunities” beckons them. “The fight to protect our Constitution and Democracy begins today,” he said.

Over 16 crore voters across 1.87 lakh polling stations

The first phase is the largest of the seven phases in the elections that will end on June 1. The results will be announced on June 4.

Over 18 lakh polling personnel have been deployed across 1.87 lakh polling stations in the first phase, PTI reported. There are a total of 16.63 crore registered voters in the first phase, of whom around 35.67 lakh are first-time voters.

Key candidates

Among the prominent candidates in the fray are eight Union ministers – Nitin Gadkari from Nagpur, Kiren Rijiju from Arunachal West, Sarbananda Sonowal from Dibrugarh, Jitendra Singh from Udhampur, Arjun Ram Meghwal from Bikaner, Bhupendra Yadav from Alwar and Sanjeev Baliyan from Muzaffarnagar.

Among the prominent Opposition leaders in the fray in the first phase are Gaurav Gogoi from Jorhat, Karti Chidambaram from Sivaganga, Kanimozhi from Thoothukudi and Nakul Nath from Chhindwara.