The voting for the high-octane Lok Sabha Elections is set to begin on Friday, April 19. The first phase of polling will be held in 102 of 534 parliamentary constituencies across 21 states on Friday. As per the Elections Commission’s schedule, the Lok Sabha polls will be held in seven phases. The results, to be declared on June 4, will decide the next PM of the country.
Political fervour has hit its peak with campaigns, rallies, and roadshows as political parties engage in heated debates over promises, and allegations are flying thick and fast.
Amidst the claims of imminent victory from both the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Congress-led INDIA bloc, tensions are running high in the political arena.
States and UTs including Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshadweep and Puducherry will be voting on April 19.
The state-wise constituencies are:
1) Arunachal Pradesh: 2 out of 2 Lok Sabha constituencies
2) Assam: 5 out of 14 LS constituencies
3) Bihar: 4 out of 40 seats
4) Chhattisgarh: 1 out of 11 constituencies
5) Madhya Pradesh: 6 out of 29 seats
6) Maharashtra: 5 out of 48 seats
7) Manipur: 2 out of 2 constituencies
8) Meghalaya: 2 out of 2 constituencies
9) Mizoram: 1 out of 1 constituency
10) Nagaland: 1 out of 1 constituency
11) Rajasthan: 12 out of 25 seats
12) Sikkim: 1 out of 1 seat
13) Tamil Nadu: 39 out of 39 Lok Sabha constituencies
14) Tripura: One out of two seats
15) Uttar Pradesh: Eight out of 80 seats
16) Uttarakhand: Five out of five constituencies
17) West Bengal: Three out of 42 seats
18) Andaman and Nicobar Islands: One out of one seat
19) Jammu and Kashmir: One out of five seats
20) Lakshadweep: One out of one seat
21) Puducherry: One out of one constituency
West Bengal, UP and Bihar are scheduled to hold polls in all seven phases of the elections.
Incumbent parties in phase-1 constituencies
Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal East (gen) – BJP
Arunachal West (gen) – BJP
Assam
Kaziranga (Gen) – Created last year to replace Kaliabor (held by Congress), following a delimitation exercise in Assam.
Sonitpur (Gen) – BJP
Lakhimpur (Gen) – BJP
Dibrugarh (Gen) – BJP
Jorhat (Gen) – BJP
Bihar
Aurangabad (general) – BJP
Gaya (SC) – Janata Dal (United)
Nawada (general) – Lok Jan Shakti Party
Jamui (SC) – Lok Janshakti Party
Chhattisgarh
Bastar (ST): Congress
Madhya Pradesh
Sidhi (gen) -BJP
Shahdol (ST) – BJP
Jabalpur (gen) – BJP
Mandla (ST) – BJP
Balaghat (gen) – BJP
Chhindwara (gen) – Congress
Maharashtra
Ramtek (SC) – Shiv Sena
Nagpur (gen) – Nitin Gadkari
Bhandara – Gondiya (gen) – BJP
Gadchiroli- Chimur (ST) – BJP
Chandrapur (gen) – Congress
Manipur
Inner Manipur (gen) – BJP
Outer Manipur (ST) – Naga People’s Front
Meghalaya
Shillong (ST) – Congress
Tura (ST) – National People’s Party
Mizoram
Mizoram (ST) – Mizo National Front
Nagaland
Nagaland (gen) – Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party
Rajasthan
Ganganagar (SC) – BJP
Bikaner (SC) – BJP
Churu (gen) – BJP
Jhunjhunu (gen) – BJP
Sikar (gen) – BJP
Jaipur (gen) – BJP
Jaipur Rural (gen) – BJP
Alwar (gen) – BJP
Bharatpur (SC) – BJP
Karauli-Dholpur (SC) – BJP
Dausa (ST) – BJP
Nagaur (gen) – Rashtriya Loktantrik Party
Sikkim
Sikkim (gen) – Sikkim Krantikari Morcha
Tamil Nadu
The entire state will go to polls in a single phase on April 19. None of the 39 Lok Sabha constituencies are represented by the BJP. 24 are represented by the DMK, which also rules at the state level. The Congress represents nine seats in Tamil Nadu.
Tripura
Tripura West (gen) – BJP
Uttarakhand
Tehri Garhwal (gen) – BJP
Garhwal (gen) – BJP
Almora (SC) – BJP
Nainital- Udhamsingh Nagar (gen) – BJP
Hardwar (gen) – BJP
West Bengal
Coochbehar (SC) – BJP
Alipurduars (ST) – BJP
Jalpaiguri (SC) – BJP
Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Andaman and Nicobar Islands (gen) – Congress
Jammu-Kashmir
Udhampur (gen) – BJP
Lakshadweep
Lakshadweep (ST): Nationalist Congress Party
Puducherry
Puducherry (gen) – Congress
Key candidates in phase-1 voting
Eight Union ministers, two former chief ministers and one ex-governor are among those who are set to test their electoral fate in the first phase.
Union Road and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari is vying for a third consecutive victory in the Nagpur constituency. He secured his first win in 2014 by defeating seven-time MP Vilas Muttemwar with a margin of 284,000 votes, and successfully retained the seat in 2019 by surpassing the Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole by 216,000 votes.
Kiren Rijiju, the Union minister, is contesting from the Arunachal West constituency. Representing the area thrice since 2004, the 52-year-old’s primary opponent is former chief minister and current president of Arunachal Pradesh Congress, Nabam Tuki.
Sarbanada Sonowal, Union Minister of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways, is aiming for re-election to the Lok Sabha from Dibrugarh in Assam. Sonowal, a Rajya Sabha member, stepped into the Dibrugarh race after Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Rameswar Teli, did not receive a ticket.
Muzaffarnagar, with its intricate caste dynamics, is witnessing a three-way electoral showdown, featuring Union Minister Sanjeev Baliyan against Samajwadi Party’s Harindra Malik and BSP candidate Dara Singh Prajapati.
Jitendra Singh, a two-time parliamentarian and a junior minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet, is eying a third consecutive victory in Udhampur.
Bhupendra Yadav, Union minister and Rajya Sabha member, who replaced sitting MP Balak Nath, is in a contest with sitting Congress MLA Lalit Yadav, backed by the Yadav community of the Matsya region in Alwar district, Rajasthan.
Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal is facing off against former Congress minister Govind Ram Meghwal for the Bikaner parliamentary seat in Rajasthan.
Sivaganga MP Karti Chidambaram is seeking re-election from a constituency that his father held for seven terms, competing against BJP’s T Devanathan Yadav and AIADMK’s Xavier Dass.
Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai is undergoing the electoral test in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore where he is competing against DMK leader Ganapathy P Rajkumar and AIADMK’s Singai Ramachandran.
Tamilisai Soundararajan, who recently resigned as governor of Telangana and Lt Governor of Puducherry to return to active politics, is contesting from Chennai South Lok Sabha constituency.
Nakul Nath, son of Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath, is seeking re-election from Chhindwara, a seat firmly held by Kamal Nath for nine terms since 1980. In the 2019 polls, BJP secured 28 out of the state’s 29 seats, missing only Chhindwara, where Nakul emerged victorious over the BJP candidate by 37,536 votes, becoming the sole Congress MP from the state.
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