The first phase of the Indian Lok Sabha elections, 2024, began today with 21 states and Union territories to go to poll, with a grand total of 102 constituencies. The elections will be conducted in seven phases, from April 19 to June 1 and the votes will be counted on the 4th of June. 

The states and Union territories that will hold elections in the first phase are Arunachal Pradesh (2 seats), Assam (5 seats), Bihar (4 seats), Chhattisgarh (1 seat), Madhya Pradesh (6 seats), Maharashtra (5 seats), Manipur (2 seats), Meghalaya (2), Mizoram (1 seat), Nagaland (1 seat), Rajasthan (12 seats), Sikkim (1 seat), Tamil Nadu (39 seats), Tripura (1 seat), Uttar Pradesh (8 seats), Uttarakhand (5 seats), West Bengal (3 seats), Andaman and Nicobar (1 seat), Jammu and Kashmir (1 seat), Lakshadweep (1 seat) and Puducherry (1 seat).

An incredibly massive election machinery has been put in place. According to Times of India, over 18 lakh polling officials have been assembled to manage the electoral process at almost 1.87 lakh polling stations. The electorate is enormous, with more than 16.63 crore voters eligible to cast their ballots. Among them are 35.67 lakh first-time voters and a sizeable chunk of 3.51 crore young voters overall, between 20-29 years of age. The logistical measures taken to ensure a hassle free process is immense. In a report, the election board has mentioned that 41 helicopters, 84 special trains and nearly 1 lakh cars have been deployed to transport polling and security staff. 

Elections will begin and end in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep and Puducherry by today. Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tripura and Manipur will be voting in two separate phases. Chhattisgarh and Assam will be voting in three separate phases and Odissa, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand will be voting in 4 separate phases. 

Major celebrities are casting votes

Ajith Kumar, winner of the National Film Award for Best Actor was one of the first actors to cast his vote in Tamil Nadu. Aside from him, several Kollywood big names have also been spotted casting their votes. Dhanush, Kamal Hassan, Rajnikanth, Vijay Sethupathi, etc have all been pictured, including a previously injured Thalapathy Vijay with a bandage on his hand who was reportedly mobbed outside the polling booth. Vijay had recently announced his intent to enter politics back in February. 

Phase 1: Key candidates

Nitin Gadkari, a two-time consecutive winner from Nagpur constituency, is eyeing for a third win.

K Annamalai, contesting from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, stands as the face of BJP. He’s going up strong against formidable opponents from long-running legacy parties of Tamil Nadu, namely DMK and AIADMK. The 39 year old is the youngest frontrunner for BJP in Tamil Nadu. 

Jitendra Singh, contesting from Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir, stands as a two-time winner from the constituency. He will be going up against Chaudhary Lal Singh, also a two-time MP of Udhampur, who has been under fire for his support of the accused in Kathua rape case. 

Gaurav Gogoi, contesting from Jorhat, Assam, will be championing Congress. He has been a two-time winner of the Kaliabor constituency since 2014 but having seen a delimitation in 2019, he has since moved to Jorhat constituency.   

The first phase of the elections will conclude by April 26 with the onset of the second phase and it will see 89 Lok Sabha seats go to poll, including 13 states and Union territories.

Voters may choose to vote for “None of the Above” (NOTA) category in case they decide not to vote for any other party and express their dissatisfaction, but a NOTA vote will not account for any decision on the winning party. If, by circumstance, NOTA gains majority votes then the second majority vote holders will be declared the winners. Therefore, if a voter is of legal age and has gained the right to vote, they are advised to exercise it properly. Your vote counts. 

You might also be interested in - “AAP Ka RamRajya” website launched by Aam Aadmi Party before 2024 elections