Lok Sabha Election 2024: The stage is set for the first phase of polling for 102 Lok Sabha seats across 21 states and Union territories on Friday. In the first phase, all 39 seats in Tamil Nadu, 5 in Uttarakhand, 2 in Arunachal Pradesh, and 12 of 25 seats in Rajasthan will go to polls on April 19.
Besides these, voting will be held in 5 seats in Maharashtra, 5 seats in Assam, 4 seats in Bihar, 6 seats in Madhya Pradesh, 8 seats in Uttar Pradesh, 3 seats in West Bengal, and one seat each in Tripura, Jammu and Kashmir and Chhattisgarh.
For the BJP, all eyes are on Tamil Nadu, where the saffron party under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and state chief K Annamalai threw its weight to increase its vote and seat share. The other crucial state for the saffron party is West Bengal and Maharashtra.
Tamil Nadu Lok Sabha Elections: Key Constituencies and Candidates
| Tamil Nadu Constituencies | NDA | AIADMK | UPA |
| Coimbatore | K Annamalai | Singai Ramachandran | Ganapathy Rajkumar |
| Nilgiri | L Murugan | Lokesh Tamilselvan | A Raja |
| Thoothukudi | SDR Vijayaseelan | R Sivasami Velumani | Kanimozhi |
| Chennai South | Tamilisai Soundararajan | Jayavardhan | Thamizhachi Thangapandian |
| Kanniyakumari | Pon. Radhakrishnan | Nazerath Pasilian | Vijay Vasanth |
Among the key faces going to polls in the first phase are eight Union Ministers - Nitin Gadkari, Kiren Rijiju, Sarbanada Sonowal, Sanjeev Baliyan, Jitendra Singh, Bhupendra Yadav, Arjun Ram Meghwal and L Murugan, two former chief ministers - Biplab Kumar Deb (Tripura) and Nabam Tuki (Arunachal Pradesh), and former Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan (Telangana).
Maharashtra Lok Sabha Elections: Key Constituencies and Candidates
| Maharashtra Constituencies | NDA | MVA |
| Nagpur | Nitin Gadkari | Vikas Thakare |
| Ramtek | Raju Parwe | Shyamkumar Barwe |
Rajasthan Lok Sabha Elections: Key Constituencies and Candidates
| Rajasthan Constituencies | BJP | Congress |
| Churu | Devendra Jhajharia | Rahul Kaswan |
| Bikaner | Arjun Ram Meghwal | Madan Gopal Meghwal |
| Alwar | Bhupender Yadav | Lalit Yadav |
| Jaipur | Manju Sharma | Pratap Singh Khachariyawas |
Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha Elections: Key Constituencies and Candidates
| Uttar Pradesh Constituencies | BJP | Samajwadi Party |
| Pilibhit | Jitin Prasada | Bhagwant Saran Gangwar |
| Rampur | Ghanshyam Singh Lodhi | Mohibullah Nadvi |
| Muzaffarnagar | Sanjeev Balyan | Harindra Malik |
Assam Lok Sabha Elections: Key Constituencies and Candidates
| Assam Constituencies | BJP | INDIA |
| Dibrugarh | Sarbananda Sonowal | Manoj Dhanuar (AAP) |
| Jorhat | Topon Kumar Gogoi | Gaurav Gogoi |
Uttarakhand Lok Sabha Elections: Key Constituencies and Candidate
| Uttarakhand Constituencies | BJP | Congress |
| Haridwar | Trivendra Singh Rawat | Virendra Rawat |
| Pauri Garhwal | Anil Baluni | Ganesh Godiyal |
Arunachal Pradesh Lok Sabha Elections 2024
| Arunachal | BJP | Congress |
| Arunachal West | Kiren Rijiju | Nabam Tuki |
Tripura Lok Sabha Elections 2024
| Tripura | BJP | Congress |
| Tripura West | Biplab Kumar Deb | Ashish Kumar Saha |
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress-led UPA won 45 of these 102 seats and the NDA 41. Six of these seats have been redrawn as part of the delimitation exercise. Polling will also be held in Meghalaya (2), Andaman and Nicobar Islands (1), Mizoram (1), Nagaland (1), Puducherry (1), Sikkim (1) and Lakshadweep (1).
In Tamil Nadu, BJP's state president K Annamalai is contesting from Coimbatore, Tamilisai Soundararajan from Chennai South, and Union Minister L Murugan from Nilgiris. Murugan is facing former telecom minister and DMK leader A Raja. DMK's Kanimozhi is contesting from Thoothukkudi.
West Bengal's three seats going to polls in phase 1 are Alipurduar, Coochbehar, and Jalpaiguri. The BJP won all three seats, which fall in North Bengal, in 2019.
In Maharashtra, the high-profile Nagpur seat is expected to witness a two-way contest between BJP's Nitin Gadkari and Congress leader Vikas Thakre.
Of 8 seats going to polls in Uttar Pradesh, eyes will be on Rampur and Pilibhbit. Rampur is the stronghold of Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, while BJP has replaced Varun Gandhi with Jitin Prasada in Pilibhit.
The second phase of polling for 89 seats in 13 states and Union territories will be held on April 26.