India, home to more than 1.4 billion people, will begin its mammoth election on 19 April. The country prides itself on the scale of its parliamentary elections, ensuring that even those in the remotest corners and highest peaks of the vast country are able to cast their vote. Voting machines in such less accessible parts are carried on the backs of horses and elephants and for some, polling booths can be reached only by boat. India also boasts the world’s highest polling booth, 15,256ft (4,650 metres) up in the Himalayan mountains.
Due to its colossal geography, voting is not on a single day but is instead split into seven phases across the different states, lasting nearly six weeks in toal. It will take place using electronic machines in more than a million polling booths, and the Election Commission of India will deploy 15 million people to oversee the operation. Voting will close on 1 June and results will finally be counted and declared on 4 June.
The first phase of elections for the 18th Lok Sabha elections starting April 19. The phase 1 polling will cover 102 constituencies spread across 21 states and Union Territories (UTs). The counting of votes will be held on June 4.
As the voting began today, the Election Commission of India wrote on X, “Every vote counts, every voice matters!”, encouraging people to reach out polling stations and vote.
Assembly Elections in the north-eastern states of Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim will also be held along with the first phase of Lok Sabha polls on April 19.
In Phase 1, states and UTs including Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand West Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshadweep and Puducherry will be voting on April 19.
Key candidates and constituencies for phase I election are Nitin Gadkari from Maharashtra, Jitin Prasada from Pilibhit UP, Tamilsai Soundararajan from Chennai South sear, Karti Chidambaram aiming for re-election from a seat where his father won seven times, K Annamalai from Coimbatore, Dayanidhi Maran from Chennai Central seat, Nakul Nath from Chhindwara and Imran Masood from Saharanpur.
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