Lok Sabha election 2024 Phase 1: Check out prominent candidates in THESE seats, and other details

Lok Sabha election 2024: The first phase of elections for the 18th Lok Sabha elections starting April 19. The phase 1 polling will cover 102 constituencies spread across 21 states and Union Territories (UTs). The counting of votes will be held on June 4.

Also Read: Lok Sabha Polls 2024: Women voters continue to rise, expected to surpass males in 2029 

Assembly Elections in the north-eastern states of Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim will also be held along with the first phase of Lok Sabha polls on April 19.

Also Read: Lok Sabha Elections 2024 Phase One: Full list of constituencies voting on April 19

Constituencies to vote in phase 1

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.

Also Read: Lok Sabha elections 2024 Phase 1 voting on April 19: How to vote if you don't have a voter ID?

Key candidates and constituencies in Phase 1:

 1. Nitin Gadkari (Maharashtra): Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari is seeking a hat-trick of wins 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  in 2009. He joined the BJP in 2021.

3. Tamilisai Soundararajan (Tamil Nadu): BJP candidate Tamilisai Soundararajan recently resigned as Telangana Governor and Lt Governor of Puducherry to return to active politics. She is the BJP's candidate for the Chennai South LS seat. Tamilisai is the daughter of Kumari Ananthan, a veteran 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, BJP state president K Annamalai will face off against DMK leader Ganapathy P Rajkumar and AIADMK leader Singai Ramachandran.

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 the DMK.

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, it failed to wrest Chhindwara, where Nakul beat the BJP's candidate by 37,536 votes to emerge as the lone Congress MP from 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).  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. 

(With inputs from agencies)