The 18th Lok Sabha elections in 2024 will commence on April 19 with the first phase of polling. This initial phase will encompass 102 constituencies across 21 states and Union Territories (UTs). The results of the election will be announced on June 4 after the counting of votes.
Constituencies to vote in phase 1
On April 19, states and UTs such as 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 participate in Phase 1 of the voting process.
Key candidates and constituencies in Phase 1:
1. Nitin Gadkari : Union Minister Nitin Gadkari is aiming for a third consecutive victory from the Nagpur constituency. In the year 2014, he emerged victorious by defeating Vilas Muttemwar, a seven-time Member of Parliament, with a substantial margin of 2.84 lakh votes. Gadkari further secured his position in 2019 by defeating the current Maharashtra Congress chief, Nana Patole, with a significant lead of 2.16 lakh votes.
2. Jitin Prasada (Uttar Pradesh): The electoral landscape in Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit constituency has witnessed a significant development with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nominating Jitin Prasada, who has replaced Varun Gandhi. Jitin Prasad, representing the BJP, is now contending against Bhagwant Saran Gangwar from the Samajwadi Party and Anees Ahmes Khan from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the upcoming election. Notably, Jitin Prasada had previously emerged victorious in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections as a Congress candidate from the Shahjahanpur constituency. Following his triumph in the Dhaurahara seat in 2009, he assumed the role of a union minister in the Congress administration. However, in 2021, he made the decision to join the BJP.
3. Tamilisai Soundararajan (Tamil Nadu): Tamilisai Soundararajan, the BJP candidate, has recently resigned from her roles as the Governor of Telangana and the Lt Governor of Puducherry to re-enter active politics. She is now running for the Chennai South LS seat as the BJP’s candidate. Tamilisai is the daughter of Kumari Ananthan, a veteran Congress leader.
4. Karti Chidambaram (Karnataka): Sivaganga MP K Chidambaram is vying for another term in office from a constituency that his father represented for seven consecutive terms, running against BJP’s T Devanathan Yadav and AIADMK’s Xavier Dass.
5. K Annamalai (Tamil Nadu): In Coimbatore, BJP state president K Annamalai will face off against DMK leader Ganapathy P Rajkumar and AIADMK leader Singai Ramachandran.
6. Dayanidhi Maran (Tamil Nadu): The Chennai Central Lok Sabha seat in Tamil Nadu is set to witness a heated contest between the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Incumbent MP Dayanidhi Maran, representing the DMK, is vying to retain the seat, while the BJP has put forward Vinoj P Selvam as their candidate. Chennai Central is widely regarded as a stronghold for the DMK.
7. Nakul Nath (Madhya Pradesh): Nakul Nath, the son of Kamal Nath, a prominent Congress leader and former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, is currently running for re-election in the Chhindwara constituency. This seat has consistently been held by Kamal Nath, who has emerged victorious in nine consecutive elections since 1980. Despite the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) securing 28 out of the 29 seats in the state during the 2019 polls, they were unable to capture Chhindwara. Nakul Nath triumphed over the BJP’s candidate by a margin of 37,536 votes, securing his position as the sole Congress Member of Parliament from Madhya Pradesh.
8. Imran Masood (Uttar Pradesh): The three-way competition in Saharanpur, a key Lok Sabha constituency in Western Uttar Pradesh, will include Imran Masood from the Congress-SP alliance, Raghav Lakhanpal Sharma from the BJP, and Majid Ali from the BSP. Masood, who is the nephew of Rashid Masood, a nine-term MP, is set to contest in this election.