Millions Vote On Day 1 Of General Election
Lok Sabha Election Phase 1 Voting: Backed by a high-octane campaign led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, the BJP is aiming to win 370 of 543 Lok Sabha seat, a steep rise from its score of 2019. The Prime Minister has set the NDA a target of 400.
New Delhi : The Lok Sabha elections 2024, hailed by the BJP as a milestone to 2047 and by the opposition as a war for democracy’s survival, began today. In the first of the 7-phase exercise, voting is taking place in 102 seats across 21 states and union territories. Millions Vote On Day 1 Of General Election
Here are top 10 points on this big story
- The first phase of polls is being held on all seats of Tamil Nadu (39), Rajasthan (12), Uttar Pradesh (8), Madhya Pradesh (6), Uttarakhand (5), Arunachal Pradesh (2), Meghalaya (2), Andaman and Nicobar Islands (1), Mizoram (1), Nagaland (1), Puducherry (1), Sikkim (1) and Lakshadweep (1). Besides, there will be five seats each in Assam and Maharashtra, four in Bihar, three in West Bengal, two in Manipur, and one each in Tripura, Jammu and Kashmir, and Chhattisgarh.
- In addition to the Lok Sabha election, four states—Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh—will elect new assemblies. Arunachal Pradesh (60 seats) and Sikkim (32) are the first to go. Millions Vote On Day 1 Of General Election
- At 5 p.m., the recorded voter turnout was 59.7 percent. Tamil Nadu had a turnout of 63.2%, Rajasthan 50.3%, Uttar Pradesh 57.5 percent, and Madhya Pradesh 63.3%. In the state elections held concurrently with the general election, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh saw turnouts of 67.5 and 64.7%, respectively.
- In Bengal, Trinamool Congress and BJP workers clashed in Cooch Behar and accused each other of violence, intimidating voters and assault on poll agents, news agency PTI reported. The police denied any violence took place. In Manipur, a burst of gunfire was reported from a polling station in Bishnupur. In Imphal East district, a polling station was vandalised. In Tamil Nadu, two elderly people — one a 77-year-old woman — died at polling booths in Salem district. Millions Vote On Day 1 Of General Election
- The BJP is seeking to win 370 of 543 Lok Sabha seats, a significant increase over its score in 2019. The Prime Minister has set an NDA target of 400. In the last election, the NDA gained 353 seats, up 5% from 2014. The BJP secured 303 seats. Millions Vote On Day 1 Of General Election
- The opposition alliance INDIA, which made headlines for its instability in the run-up to the elections, particularly with the defection of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, has banded together following the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the liquor policy case. Nonetheless, in several places, the parties are pitted against one another, defying the rule of one-on-one battles that they promised would drive the BJP out. Millions Vote On Day 1 Of General Election
- The BJP hopes to win 22 of the 25 seats in the northeast, where it already dominates, and sweep the vast swathe of the Hindi heartland, including Jammu in the north and Gujarat in the west. In Bengal, it hopes to thrive at the expense of Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress and make further gains in Odisha, despite the fact that a potential alliance with Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal failed. Millions Vote On Day 1 Of General Election
The Congress, which has been thrown out of much of northern India, claims to be on the verge of regaining power. Senior leader KC Venugopal has stated that the party’s performance will improve in most northern states, including the BJP strongholds of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. With assembly poll victories in Telangana and Karnataka, as well as an alliance with the DMK in Tamil Nadu, there is a lot of optimism in the results in the south. Millions Vote On Day 1 Of General Election
Eight Union ministers, two former chief ministers, one former governor and a number of key leaders are in the fray today, making for scintillating contests in more than 20 seats. Among them are Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Jitendra Singh, Kiren Rijiju, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Sanjiv Balyan, former Telangana governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, Congress’s Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi and former Chief Minister of Assam Sarbananda Sonowal. The counting of votes will take place on June 4.
