Lok Sabha Elections 2024: In the first phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, voting is going on today (Friday, April 19), for 102 seats in 21 states and union territories. In 2019, BJP won the most number of these seats, 40, DMK 24, Congress 15. Others got 23 seats.
According to the Election Commission, a total of 1,625 candidates are in the fray in the first phase of the election, of which 1,491 are male and 134 female candidates. Women constitute only 8% of these.
The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) prepared a report on the information given in the affidavits of 1,618 candidates. Of these, 16% i.e. 252 candidates have criminal cases registered against them.
At the same time, 450 or 28% candidates are crorepatis. They have assets worth one crore or more. 10 have declared their assets as zero, while three have assets worth Rs 300 to 500.
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Serious cases like murder, kidnapping are registered against 161 candidates
According to the ADR report, 10% i.e. 161 candidates have serious cases like murder, kidnapping registered against them. 7 candidates have cases of murder and 19 have cases of attempt to murder.
Cases of crimes against women are registered against 18 candidates. One of them has a rape case registered against him. At the same time, cases related to hate speech are registered against 35 candidates.
28% candidates are crorepatis
ADR has said in its report that out of 1618 candidates in the first phase of the election, 450 or 28% candidates are crorepatis. They have assets worth Rs 1 crore or more. The average assets of the candidates is Rs 4.51 crore.
Ten candidates have declared zero assets while three have assets worth Rs 300 to Rs 500. Independent candidate K Ponraj from Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi seat is the poorest candidate with Rs 320.
9 hot seats of the first phase of elections…
Nagpur (Maharashtra)
Despite being the headquarters of RSS, Nagpur has always been a stronghold of Congress. This seat remained in the possession of Congress from 1952 to 1996 and from 1998 to 2009. BJP opened its account for the first time in the 1996 elections. Then Banwarilal Purohit was elected MP.
In 2014, Nitin Gadkari broke the Congress’ winning streak. Since then he has been an MP from Nagpur seat. Gadkari is now in the fray for the third time. He is pitted against Congress’ Vikas Thackeray. Vikas Thackeray is an MLA from Nagpur West and has been a mayor.
Bikaner (Rajasthan)
This time too, BJP has fielded current Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal as its candidate in Bikaner, Rajasthan. Congress has fielded former Rajasthan government minister Govind Ram Meghwal against him. Govind Ram Meghwal recently lost the assembly elections from Khajuwala seat. Arjun Ram Meghwal has been an MP from this seat for 3 consecutive terms.
Alwar (Rajasthan)
There is a contest between BJP’s Bhupendra Yadav and Congress’ Lalit Yadav on the Alwar seat. Lalit Yadav is an MLA from Mundawar. He won by more than 50 thousand votes in the 2023 assembly elections. At the same time, Bhupendra Yadav has been a Rajya Sabha MP twice from Rajasthan. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP’s Baba Balak Nath won the Alwar seat.
Chhindwara (Madhya Pradesh)
This seat has been with the Congress for more than 70 years. For the last 45 years, a member of the Nath family has been winning here. However, in the by-election held in 1997, the then Chief Minister of the state Sundarlal Patwa defeated Kamal Nath by more than 37 thousand votes. After this, the very next year Kamal Nath also defeated Patwa by a big margin.
Kamal Nath was an MP here 9 times between 1980 and 2019. After becoming the Chief Minister in 2018, he handed over the command to his son and despite the Modi wave in 2019, Nakul Nath managed to win this MP seat. This time too, there is a contest between Congress’ Nakul Nath and BJP’s Vivek Bunty Sahu. Sahu has lost to Kamal Nath in the 2019 by-election and the 2023 assembly elections.
Mandla (Madhya Pradesh)
BJP has fielded six-time MP and Union Minister Faggan Singh Kulaste from here. He is pitted against four-time Congress MLA Omkar Singh Markam. BJP’s concern on this seat has increased because during the assembly elections held six months ago, Faggan Singh Kulaste had to face defeat from the Niwas seat of Mandla district. Out of the eight assembly seats falling under the Mandla parliamentary constituency, five are occupied by Congress and three by BJP.
Udhampur (Jammu-Kashmir)
Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh is in the fray for victory for the third time from the Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha seat of Jammu and Kashmir. In 2014, he defeated former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad by 61 thousand votes. After this, in 2019, he defeated Congress candidate Vikram Aditya Singh by more than 3 lakh votes.
Arunachal West
BJP has fielded Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on this seat. He will be challenged by Congress President Nabam Tuki. Tuki is the former Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, who has been elected 6 times from the assembly seat of Sagli in Papum Pare district.
BJP candidate Kiren Rijiju won this seat in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. At the same time, Congress candidate Takam Sanjoy won the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.
Cooch Behar (West Bengal)
The BJP has fielded Union Minister Nishith Pramanik from this seat, while TMC has bet on Jagdish Chandra Burma Basunia. In 2019, BJP candidate Nishith Pramanik was elected MP from Cooch Behar seat. In 2019, Nishith Pramanik was expelled by the Trinamool Congress, after which he contested from Cooch Behar on a BJP ticket and won. He defeated Trinamool Congress official Paresh Chandra by a margin of 54,231 votes.
Nagina (Uttar Pradesh)
Nagina Lok Sabha seat of Bijnor district of UP has become high-profile this time. Here young Dalit leader Chandrashekhar Azad is contesting from his party ‘Azad Samaj Party’. Due to this, the contest on the seat has become four-cornered. Nahtaur MLA Om Kumar is in the fray from BJP while former judge Manoj Kumar is from India Alliance.
Surendra Pal is the candidate from Bahujan Samaj Party. In fact, BSP had won this seat even in the Modi wave of 2019. Girish Chandra Jatav of BSP had won this seat, but Mayawati has fielded him from Bulandshahr this time.
State-wise list of constituencies: States going to polls on April 19: List of states and Constituencies
The first phase of the elections will cover 102 constituencies across 21 states and union territories.
| Name of State/UT | Lok Sabha Constituency Name |
| 1. Andaman and Nicobar Islands | Andaman and Nicobar Islands |
| 2. Arunachal Pradesh | Arunachal Pradesh East, Arunachal Pradesh West |
| 3. Assam | Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Kaziranga, Lakhimpur, Sonitpur |
| 4. Bihar | Aurangabad, Gaya, Jamui, Nawada |
| 5. Chhattisgarh | Bastar |
| 6. Jammu and Kashmir | Udhampur |
| 7. Madhya Pradesh | Chhindwara, Balaghat, Jabalpur, Mandla, Sidhi, Shahdol |
| 8. Maharashtra | Nagpur, Chandrapur, Bhandara-Gondiya, Gadchiroli-Chimur, Ramtek |
| 9. Manipur | Inner Manipur, Outer Manipur |
| 10. Meghalaya | Shillong, Tura |
| 11. Mizoram | Mizoram |
| 12. Nagaland | Nagaland |
| 13. Puducherry | Puducherry |
| 14. Rajasthan | Ganganagar, Bikaner, Churu, Jhunjhunu, Sikar, Jaipur Rural, Jaipur, Alwar, Bharatpur, Karauli-Dholpur, Dausa, Nagaur |
| 15. Sikkim | Sikkim |
| 16. Tamil Nadu | Tiruvallur, Chennai North, Chennai South, Chennai Central, Sriperumbudur, Kancheepuram, Arakkonam, Vellore, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Tiruvannamalai, Arani, Viluppuram, Kallakurichi, Salem, Namakkal, Erode, Tiruppur, Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Pollachi, Dindigul, Karur, Tiruchirappalli, Perambalur, Cuddalore, Chidambaram, Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Sivaganga, Madurai, Theni, Virudhunagar, Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi, Tenkasi, Tirunelveli, Kanniyakumari |
| 17. Tripura | Tripura West |
| 18. Uttarakhand | Tehri Garhwal, Garhwal, Almora, Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar, Haridwar |
| 19. Uttar Pradesh | Pilibhit, Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Nagina, Moradabad, Rampur |
| 20. West Bengal | Cooch behar, Alipurduars, Jalpaiguri |
| 21. Lakshadweep | Lakshadweep |
What will be the timing of voting in the general elections?
Voting will start at 7 am on Friday and will continue till 6 pm. However, the end time of voting may vary in some places.
How many voters will vote?
According to the Election Commission, more than 16.63 crore voters will vote in the first phase. More than 35.67 lakh voters will vote for the first time. There are 8.4 crore male voters in the first phase, while there are 8.23 crore female voters. Apart from this, there are more than 11 thousand third gender voters.
There will be strict vigil at the polling booth
The Election Commission has made tight security arrangements at more than 1.87 lakh polling booths. About 18 lakh security personnel have been deployed at the polling booths. 41 helicopters, 84 special trains and about one lakh vehicles have also been deployed to bring and take the polling and security personnel.
Elections 2024: Full Schedule
