Voting continues in 102 seats in first phase of Lok Sabha elections 2024

New Delhi: Voting for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections 2024 began on Friday across 102 parliamentary constituencies spread over 21 states and Union Territories as the mega seven-phase electoral exercise commenced at 7:00 am.

Voters will exercise their franchise until 6:00 pm. Polling for assembly elections in the north-eastern states of Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim also started along with voting for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on Friday morning.

Arunachal will be polling for two Lok Sabha seats and the 60-member Assembly.

Apart from Arunachal, Sikkim will vote for 32 assembly seats and a lone Lok Sabha seat.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking his third consecutive term, while the opposition bloc-INDIA- a coalition of opposing parties formed to take on the BJP in the general elections, is eyeing ousting him from power.

A total of 16.63 crore voters are going to vote in the first phase of Lok Sabha polls, deciding the fate of 1625 candidates, with Nitin Gadkari, Kiren Rijiju, Bhupendra Yadav, and Arjun Ram Meghwal among several Union ministers in the fray.

According to the data released by the Election Commission of India (ECI), a total of 1.87 lakh polling stations have been set up, while 18 lakh personnel have been deployed across the 102 constituencies going to the polls.

The first phase, with the highest number of parliamentary constituencies among all seven phases, will witness polling in 21 states and Union Territories.

An estimated 8.4 crore male voters, 8.23 crore female voters, and 11,371 third-gender electors are eligible to vote in the first phase of Lok Sabha polls, according to the ECI data.

(ANI)