Lok Sabha Election Phase 1 in Motion, Voting Begins At 102 Constituencies

India has begun the first phase of its national elections. Here are some highlights to keep in mind.

19 April 2024

By Khushi Maheshwari

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with its high-powered campaign spearheaded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, has set a target of bagging 400 seats. It has been speculated to win at least 370 of the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha.

Voting is being conducted across 21 states and Union Territories for a sum of 102 seats. The Lok Sabha elections are a 7-phase exercise and commenced the first phase today. 

The polling started at 7 am and will continue till the evening around 6 pm for the day. Final vote count is scheduled for 4th June while the next phase of the elections will commence from 26th April.  

Some important points to keep in mind through the election season are: 

1. All eyes are locked at the gateway of South India since polling will be held on all of Tamil Nadu’s 39 seats. Second in the number of seats stands Rajasthan, with polls being held on 12 seats. 

2. Other states include Uttar Pradesh with 8 seats, Madhya Pradesh with 6 seats, Uttarakhand with 5 seats, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya with 2 seats each and Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Sikkim, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep Islands with 1 seat in each of them.

3. Apart from this, there will be 5 seats each in Maharashtra and Assam, 4 in Bihar, 3 in West Bengal, 2 in Manipur, and 1 each in Tripura, Jammu and Kashmir and Chhattisgarh. 

4. Along with Lok Sabha elections, state elections will be held in 4 states — Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim (32) and Arunachal Pradesh (60 seats).

5. The BJP, which now dominates in the Northeast, is aiming to win 22 out of 25. It already rules over the Hindi heartland and expects to stay that way and flourish in Jammu in the North and the PM’s home ground Gujarat in the West. 

6. The opposition bloc INDIA has mostly been making headlines over its disorganisation in the run-up polls after the defection done by Nitish Kumar, the Bihar Chief Minister. The strategy of one-on-one contests has been flouted by parties that are up against each other in many provinces.

7. The Congress is pushing for a comeback in North Indian states. In contrast, the BJP wants to make a dent in Southern states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, since the only popular northern party there is The Congress.