New Delhi: Voting for the 14th Lok Sabha and Assemblies in four states began on Friday. In the first of the 7-phase democratic exercise, voting is being held in 102 seats across 21 states and Union Territories.
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.
Four states – Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh – will also pick new Assemblies alongside this Lok Sabha election. Of these, Arunachal Pradesh (60 seats) and Sikkim (32) are first down today.
Backed by a high-octane campaign led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, the BJP aims to win 370 of 543 Lok Sabha seats – a steep rise from its score of 2019. The Prime Minister has set the NDA a target of 400. In the last election, the NDA won 353 seats – up by 5 per cent from 2014. The BJP won 303 seats.
The Opposition bloc INDIA, which mostly made headlines over its disarray in the run-up to the polls –especially with the defection of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar – has been standing together following the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the liquor policy case. Even so, in multiple pockets, the parties are up against each other, flouting the rule of one-on-one contests they guaranteed would push the BJP out.
Eight Union ministers, two former Chief Ministers, one former Governor and several 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.
In 2019, the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) won 45 of the 102 seats and the NDA 41. Six of the seats have been redrawn as part of delimitation. The counting of votes will be held on June 4.
