Manashimaya
Voting for the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections of 2024 commenced on April 19, covering 102 constituencies spread across 17 States and four Union Territories. Among the prominent candidates vying for seats are eight Union Ministers including Nitin Gadkari, Kiren Rijiju, Sarbanada Sonowal, Jitendra Singh, and Bhupendra Yadav. Additionally, key figures such as Gaurav Gogoi from the Congress, Kanimozhi from the DMK, and K. Annamalai, the Tamil Nadu BJP chief, are in the electoral fray.
The southern region, with 39 seats from Tamil Nadu and one from Puducherry, holds the largest seats in this phase. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Tamil Nadu during campaigning, underscoring the BJP’s efforts to establish a presence in the state. However, the Dravidian majors, the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) remain the primary contenders.
Voting is also taking place in 25 seats in Rajasthan, eight in Uttar Pradesh, six in Madhya Pradesh, five each in Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, and Assam, four in Bihar, three in West Bengal, two in Arunachal Pradesh, and one seat each in Tripura, Jammu and Kashmir, and Chhattisgarh.
Simultaneously, Assembly elections are held in Arunachal Pradesh (60 seats) and Sikkim (32 seats).
Uttar Pradesh witnesses a three-way contest between the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the INDIA bloc, and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). In Jammu and Kashmir, the Udhampur-Doda Parliament seat is up for grabs, with Jitendra Singh from the BJP facing contenders from the Congress and the Democratic Progressive Azad Party. West Bengal and Maharashtra also emerge as crucial states for the BJP.
The BJP-led NDA, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is for a strengthened majority. Conversely, the constituents of the opposition INDIA bloc are eyeing a resurgence after setbacks in the 2014 and 2019 elections.