New Delhi: Come tomorrow, and the curtains will go up on the battle that pits BJP’s ‘Sankalp Patra’ against Congress’s ‘Nyay Patra’, the slogan of “Aap Ki Bar, 400 Paar” against “fight to save Constitution and democracy”. The high-octane Lok Sabha elections is set to kick off on Friday, with 102 seats across 21 states and Union Territories going to polls in the first phase.
While the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by Prime Minister Modi is eyeing a stronger majority and a third straight term at the Centre, the Opposition coalition under the banner of I.N.D.I.A is seeking a rebound of its electoral fate following setbacks in the 2014 and 2019 polls.
In the first phase, polling is scheduled for all Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu (39), Uttarakhand (5), Arunachal Pradesh (2), Meghalaya (2), Andaman and Nicobar Islands (1), Mizoram (1), Nagaland (1), Puducherry (1), Sikkim (1), and Lakshadweep (1).
Voting will also take place for 12 seats in Rajasthan, eight in Uttar Pradesh, six in Madhya Pradesh, five each in Assam and Maharashtra, four in Bihar, three in West Bengal, two in Manipur, and one seat each in Tripura, Jammu and Kashmir, and Chhattisgarh.
Further, of all the states going to polls in the opening phase, the spotlight will be on Tamil Nadu where the Dravidian heavyweights and the Congress face the toughest challenge they have in recent history from a resurgent BJP led by the firebrand state chief K Annamalai.
Simultaneous polling will also be held for 92 Assembly constituencies of Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim.
#WATCH | Gangtok: Sikkim Assembly elections will be held tomorrow simultaneously with the first phase of #LokSabhaElections2024
D Anandan, Chief Electoral Officer of Sikkim says, “…We have 1 Parliamentary Constituency and 32 Assembly Constituencies. Out of these 32, we have a… pic.twitter.com/xYyi6ZvYmm
— ANI (@ANI) April 18, 2024
Prominent contenders in the fray include Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Sarbananda Sonowal, Congress’s Gaurav Gogoi, DMK’s Kanimozhi, and the BJP’s K Annamalai.
Seven Union Ministers, including Bhupendra Yadav, Kiren Rijiju, Sanjeev Baliyan, Jitendra Singh, Arjun Ram Meghwal, L Murugan, and Nisith Pramanik are also contesting in the first phase. Other key contestants include former chief ministers Biplab Kumar Deb (Tripura) and Nabam Tuki (Arunachal Pradesh), along with Tamilisai Soundararajan, who resigned as Telangana’s governor to re-enter active politics, contesting from Chennai South on a BJP ticket.
Tight security arrangements have been made in Manipur, which has been witness to ethnic violence over the last one year. The Inner Manipur Lok Sabha constituency, which comprises 32 of the 60 Assembly segments, and 15 Assembly segments of the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha seat will go to polls in first phase. Voting will be held in the remaining 13 segments of Outer Manipur in the second phase on April 26.
On poll preparations in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad, DM Manvendra Singh told ANI, “…16 zonal Magistrate will do the supervision…We have a total of 1728 booths, all polling parties will reach there and then from 7 am onwards, it will begin. We are going to ensure that polling takes place neutrally.”
#WATCH | Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh: On poll preparations for the first phase, DM Manvendra Singh says, “…16 zonal Magistrate will do the supervision…We have a total of 1728 booths, all polling parties will reach there and then from 7 am onwards, it will begin. We are going to… pic.twitter.com/esvo5LCjZ6
— ANI (@ANI) April 18, 2024
“We have called 5000 people here; more than 1100 presiding officers are present…Sector and zonal officers are keeping an eye on the preparations. We have 150 women polling stations only…security officers are also women there,” Additional District Commissioner (ADC) Assam’s Sonitpur Kabita Kakati Konwar told ANI.
A total of 16.63 crore people are eligible to cast their votes on Friday. The first phase has 35.67 lakh first-time voters and 3.51 crore young voters aged between 20 to 29 years.
Polling hours are set from 7am to 6pm, with a voting populace comprising 8.4 crore men, 8.23 crore women, and 11,371 individuals identifying as the third gender. The Election Commission has mobilised over 18 lakh polling personnel across 1.87 lakh polling stations to facilitate smooth voting.
