Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Festival of Democracy Begins Today With Phase I Voting For 91 Parliamentary Seats And 4 Assemblies
Polling in 91 Lok Sabha seats across 20 states and Union Territories will be held today in the first phase of seven-phased general elections.
New Delhi, April 11: Will Narendra Modi return as the prime minister? Can Congress President Rahul Gandhi change his party's fortunes? The festival of democracy, elections, will decide. Polling in 91 Lok Sabha seats across 20 states and Union Territories will be held today in the first phase of seven-phased general elections. Voting for Assembly polls will also be held in Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and the first phase of Odisha.
Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Uttarakhand, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Manipur, Odisha, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal will go to polls in the first phase. In Andhra Pradesh, polling will be held to elect 25 MPs and 175 MLAs. All 17 parliamentary seats will also go to polls in the first phase today. Check Full Schedule of Lok Sabha Elections 2019.
Polling will take place in eight out of 80 Lok Sabha seats of Uttar Pradesh, four out of 40 seats of Bihar and two out of 42 seats of West Bengal. The first phase will also cover five seats of Uttarakhand, two each of Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Meghalaya and one each of Chhattisgarh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar as well as Lakshadweep. Seven out of 48 parliamentary seats will also go to polls in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections. Lok Sabha Elections 2019 Schedule: How Staggered Polling Could Help BJP.
List of States And Constituencies That Will Vote Today In Phase I:
| State (No. of seats voting in this phase) | Constituency |
| Andhra Pradesh (All 25) | Araku, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli, Kakinada, Amalapuram, Rajahmundry, Narasapuram, Eluru, Machilipatnam, Vijayawada, Guntur, Narasaraopet, Bapatla, Ongole, Nandyal, Kurnool, Anantapur, Hindupur, Kadapa, Nellore, Tirupati, Rajampet, Chittoor |
| Arunachal Pradesh (All 2) | Arunachal West, Arunachal East |
| Assam (5) | Tezpur, Kalibor, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Lakhimpur |
| Bihar (4) | Aurangabad, Gaya, Nawada, Jamui |
| Chhattisgarh (1) | Bastar |
| Jammu and Kashmir (2) | Baramulla, Jammu |
| Maharashtra (7) | Wardha, Ramtek, Nagpur, Bhandara - Gondiya, Gadchiroli-Chimur, Chandrapur, Yavatmal-Washim |
| Manipur (1) | Outer Manipur |
| Meghalaya (2) | Shillong, Tura |
| Mizoram (1) | Mizoram |
| Nagaland (1) | Nagaland |
| Odisha (4) | Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Berhampur, Koraput |
| Sikkim (1) | Sikkim |
| Telangana (17) | Adilabad, Peddapalle, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Zahirabad, Medak, Malkajgiri, Secunderabad, Hyderabad, Chevella, Mahbubnagar, Nagarkurnool, Nalgonda, Bhongir, Warangal, Mahabubabad, Khammam |
| Tripura (1) | Tripura West |
| Uttar Pradesh (8) | Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar |
| Uttarakhand (5) | Tehri Garhwal, Garhwal, Almora, Nainital–Udhamsingh Nagar, Haridwar |
| West Bengal (2) | Coochbehar, Alipurduars |
| Andaman And Nicobar (1) | Andaman And Nicobar |
| Lakshadweep (1) | Lakshadweep |
Curtains were drawn on the high voltage electioneering on Tuesday evening. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah spearheaded the party's campaign by addressing a host of election rallies. A battery of other leaders also hit the campaign trail to give steam to the BJP campaign. The Congress campaign, on the other hand, was led single-handedly by party president Rahul Gandhi.
The Election Commission of India announced the schedule of Lok Sabha polls on March 10. A total of 900 million voters are expected to cast their vote this general election across 10 lakh polling stations. The results of Lok Sabha elections and Assembly polls will be declared on May 23.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 11, 2019 12:03 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).