As the phase 1 of Lok Sabha polling is set to begin, the Assembly Elections will also begin with the north-eastern states of Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim during the first phase on April 19.
Constituencies to vote in phase 1
As many as 21 states and Union Territories would be voting in phase 1 of the Lok Sabha elections. In Phase 1, 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.
Here’s a detailed list of constituencies to vote in each state
1. Arunachal Pradesh (2 seats) including Arunachal Pradesh East, and Arunachal Pradesh West will vote in Phase 1
2. Assam (5 seats) including Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Kaziranga, Lakhimpur, Sonitpur
3. Bihar (4 seats) including Aurangabad, Gaya, Jamui, Nawada
4. One seat of Bastar from Chhattisgarh
5. Madhya Pradesh (6 seats) including Chhindwara, Balaghat, Jabalpur, Mandla, Sidhi, Shahdol.
6. Maharashtra (5 seats) including Nagpur, Chandrapur, Bhandara-Gondiya, Gadchiroli-Chimur, Ramtek
7. Manipur (2 seats): Inner Manipur, Outer Manipur
8. Two seats from Meghalaya i.e. Shillong, Tura will vote in phase 1
9. One seat each from Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Sikkim, Lakshadweep
10. Rajasthan (12): Ganganagar, Bikaner, Churu, Jhunjhunu, Sikar, Jaipur Rural, Jaipur, Alwar, Bharatpur, Karauli-Dholpur, Dausa, Nagaur
11. Tamil Nadu: All the 39 seats will go to polls in Phase 1 which includes 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
12. Uttar Pradesh: Eight constituencies including Pilibhit, Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Nagina, Moradabad, and Rampur to vote in phase 1
13. West Bengal: Eight constituencies including Coochbehar, Alipurduars, and Jalpaiguri to vote in phase 1 on April 19.
14. Andaman and Nicobar Islands (1 seat): Andaman and Nicobar Islands
15. Jammu and Kashmir: One seat of Udhampur to vote in Phase 1
16. Tripura: One seat of Tripura West to vote in phase 1 polls
Key candidates and constituencies in Phase 1:
1. Nitin Gadkari (Maharashtra): Union Road and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari is seeking a hat-trick of win from the Nagpur seat. In 2014, he had defeated seven-time MP Vilas Muttemwar by a margin of 2.84 lakh votes and retained the seat in 2019 by defeating current Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole by 2.16 lakh votes.
2. Jitin Prasada (Uttar Pradesh): Pilibhit constituency in Uttar Pradesh holds immense significance in the electoral arena after the BJP fielded Jitin Prasada, replacing Varun Gandhi. Jitin Prasad of the BJP, Bhagwant Saran Gangwar of the Samajwadi Party, and Anees Ahmes Khan of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) are the main candidates in the election. In 2004, Jitin Prasada, running on a Congress ticket from the Shahjahanpur constituency, had won the Lok Sabha elections. He was appointed Union Minister in the Congress administration after winning the Dhaurahara seat later in 2009. He joined the BJP in 2021.
3. Tamilisai Soundararajan (Tamil Nadu): BJP candidate Tamilisai recently resigned as Telangana Governor and Lt Governor of Puducherry to return to active politics. She is running for the Lok Sabha seat from Chennai South and is the daughter of Kumari Ananthan, a seasoned Congress leader.
4. Karti Chidambaram (Karnataka): Sivaganga MP K Chidambaram is aiming for re-election from a seat his father won seven times, competing against BJP’s T Devanathan Yadav and AIADMK’s Xavier Dass.
5. K Annamalai (Tamil Nadu): In Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, BJP president K Annamalai will face off against DMK leader Ganapathy P Rajkumar and AIADMK leader Singai Ramachandran in the ballot test.
6. Dayanidhi Maran (Tamil Nadu): Tamil Nadu’s Chennai Central Lok Sabha seat will witness a fierce battle between the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and BJP. The DMK has fielded incumbent MP Dayanidhi Maran who is seeking to retain the seat, while the BJP has fielded Vinoj P Selvam. Chennai Central is considered a stronghold of DMK, considering its history with the Maran family.
7. Nakul Nath (Madhya Pradesh): Nakul Nath, son of Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath, is seeking a re-election from Chhindwara. The seat has remained firmly with Kamal Nath, who has won the seat nine times since 1980. In the 2019 polls, though the BJP bagged 28 seats out of the state’s 29, however, they missed out on picking Chhindwara, where Nakul beat the BJP’s candidate by 37,536 votes to emerge as the lone Congress MP in the state.
8. Imran Masood (Uttar Pradesh): The triangular race in Saharanpur, one of the most crucial Lok Sabha seats from Western Uttar Pradesh, will feature Imran Masood, the nominee of the Congress-SP alliance, Raghav Lakhanpal Sharma of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Majid Ali of the Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP). Congress-SP candidate Imran Masood is the nephew of nine-term MP (five-term member of the Lok Sabha and four-term member of the Rajya Sabha) Rashid Masood. He had significant backing from various Hindu castes throughout the course of his lengthy political career.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Published: 17 Apr 2024, 01:37 PM IST