Lok Sabha polls: Voting for phase 1 today, high-stakes test in Tamil Nadu

Lok Sabha polls: Voting for phase 1 today, high-stakes test in Tamil Nadu

The grand election season has begun. Voting for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections will begin today at 7 am on 102 seats spread across 21 states and Union Territories.

While the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is seeking a third successive term under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Opposition is hoping for a change in fortune as they are contesting the polls forming an umbrella alliance, INDIA.

All eyes will be on Tamil Nadu, where voting will take place on all 39 Lok Sabha seats. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is seeking his third successive term at the Centre, would hope for a better turnout for the BJP in the southern state where he has campaigned extensively.

Here is all you need to know:

• Point #

  In the first phase, polling will be held on all seats in these states — 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).

• Point #

  Besides, there will be voting in 12 seats in Rajasthan, eight in Uttar Pradesh, six in Madhya Pradesh, five seats 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.

• Point #

  Simultaneously, assembly elections will be held in Arunachal Pradesh (60 seats) and Sikkim (32 seats).

• Point #

  In the first phase, over 16.63 crore people are eligible to cast their vote. This includes 35.67 lakh first time voters, 3.51 crore young voters in the age group of 20-29 years, and 11,371 from third gender.

• Point #

  Seven Union Ministers are in the fray in the first phase — Nitin Gadkari, Sarbananda Sonowal, Bhupendra Yadav, Kiren Rijiju, Sanjeev Baliyan, Jitendra Singh, Arjun Ram Meghwal, L Murugan and Nisith Pramanik.

• Point #

  Besides them, BJP’s Tamil Nadu chief K Annamalai, former Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, DMK’s Kanimozhi and Congress’s Gaurav Gogoi are also in the fray.

• Point #

  On the 102 seats going to polls on Friday, the NDA had won 41 seats in the 2019 elections while the Congress-led UPA bloc won 45 seats. This time, however, six of these seats have been redrawn as part of the delimitation exercise.

• Point #

  Manipur, which has been rocked by ethnic violence over the last one year, will also vote in the first phase. Tight security arrangements have been put in place in the Inner Manipur Lok Sabha seat, which comprises 32 of the 60 assembly segments.

• Point #

  Overall, the Election Commission has deployed over 18 lakh polling personnel across 1.87 lakh polling stations on the 102 seats across 21 states and Union Territories.

• Point #

  The seven-phase elections will conclude on June 4, when the results will be announced.

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