On Friday, April 19, Google released a doodle to mark the beginning of the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 in India. This doodle, visible across the nation, signifies the commencement of voting as citizens from various states head to the polling booths. The doodle symbolizes voting through the representation of the index finger with the iconic voting mark.
The 18th Lok Sabha elections this year witnessed a fierce competition between the BJP-led NDA and the INDIA bloc. In the first phase of polling, elections are being held in 17 states and four Union Territories (UTs), covering 102 constituencies. With 1.87 lakh polling stations set up for over 16.63 crore eligible voters, including 8.4 crore men, 8.23 crore women, and 11,371 third gender electors, the voting process begins.
A total of 1625 candidates from various parties are contesting in the first phase of elections. Key candidates whose fate will be decided today include Nitin Gadkari, K Annamalai, Jitin Prasada, Jitan Ram Manjhi, Nakul Nath, Gaurav Gogoi, Imran Masood, Karti Chidambaram, Tamilisai Soundararajan, and Dayanidhi Maran.
Voting, according to the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) notification, starts at 7:00 am and ends at 6:00 pm. Vote counting is scheduled for June 4.
The first phase of elections takes place on April 19 in states such as Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and parts of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Tripura, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Manipur, Assam, and Bihar.
For the unversed, phase 2 voting is set for April 26, Phase 3 for May 7, Phase 4 for May 13, Phase 5 for May 20, Phase 6 for May 25, and Phase 7 for June 1.
