The much-awaited Lok Sabha elections are all set to commence today as the nation gears up to cast their votes for the first phase of polls cross 102 seats and 21 states and Union Terrorities. With that being said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to his social media account on X, urging people to exercise their right to vote and choose the candidate they deem deserving to to reprsent them.
“The biggest celebration of democracy is starting from today! In the first phase of Lok Sabha elections, votes will be cast for 102 seats in 21 states and union territories. I urge the voters of all these seats to exercise their franchise and create a new voting record,” PM Modi’s tweet stated. He further even asked the new voters to vote saying,”I have a special appeal to my young friends who are going to vote for the first time to vote in large numbers. In democracy, every vote is precious and every voice is important!”
लोकतंत्र का सबसे बड़ा उत्सव आज से शुरू हो रहा है! लोकसभा चुनाव के पहले चरण के मतदान में 21 राज्यों और संघ शासित प्रदेशों की 102 सीटों के लिए वोट डाले जाएंगे। इन सभी सीटों के मतदाताओं से मेरा आग्रह है कि वे अपने मताधिकार का प्रयोग जरूर करें और वोटिंग का नया रिकॉर्ड बनाएं। पहली बार…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 19, 2024
Additionally, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav also encouraged voters to participate in the electoral process, emphasizing the importance of casting votes for a promising future, stating, “Apne sunere bhavishye ke liye vote zarur dale” (Be sure to vote for your bright future).
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is contesting for a third consecutive term this year under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On the other hand, the opposition parties are eager to turn the tide in their favor, aligning themselves under the banner of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc.
First phase of elections
The first phase of polling covers constituencies in various states and Union Territories, with the voting starting at 7 am and ending at 6 pm. The regions that are going to polls today include states like Arunachal Pradesh (2 seats), Meghalaya (2 seats), Sikkim (1 seat), Mizoram (1 seat), Nagaland (1 seat), Lakshadweep (1 seat), Uttarakhand (5 seats), Andaman and Nicobar Islands (1 seat), Puducherry (1 seat), and Tamil Nadu (39 seats).
Additionally, polling is underway in 12 seats in Rajasthan, 8 in Uttar Pradesh, 6 in Madhya Pradesh, 5 each in Assam and Maharashtra, 4 in Bihar, 3 in West Bengal, 2 in Manipur, and one seat each in Tripura, Jammu and Kashmir, and Chhattisgarh.
Simultaneously, assembly elections are being held in Arunachal Pradesh for 60 seats and Sikkim with 32 seats today.
The Election Commission has deployed approximately 18 lakh polling personnel across 1.87 lakh polling stations to facilitate the voting process. Over 16.63 crore voters, comprising 8.4 crore men, 8.23 crore women, and 11,371 individuals from the third gender, are eligible to cast their votes in this phase.
Furthermore, this election witnesses a significant number of first-time voters, totaling around 35.67 lakh, along with 3.51 crore young voters aged between 20 and 29 years.
Notable candidates contesting in this phase include Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Sarbananda Sonowal, and Bhupendra Yadav, as well as Gaurav Gogoi from the Congress, Kanimozhi from the DMK, and K Annamalai from the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Other prominent contestants include Kiren Rijiju, Jitendra Singh, Sanjeev Baliyan, L Murugan, Arjun Ram Meghwal, and Nisith Pramanik. Additionally, former chief ministers Biplab Kumar Deb (Tripura) and Nabam Tuki (Arunachal Pradesh), along with former Telangana governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, are also in the electoral fray.
In the 2019 elections, the NDA secured victory in 41 out of the 102 seats up for polling today, while the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) won 45 seats.
It’s worth noting that six seats among those up for grabs today have been redrawn as part of the delimitation exercise for the 2024 elections, signaling a shift in electoral dynamics and constituency boundaries.
With voting now underway in the first phase, political observers and citizens alike await the results that will shape the political landscape of India for the coming years.
