The world’s largest democracy’s biggest festival, India’s general elections, kicked off on Friday with the voting of the first of seven phase of the 18th Lok Sabha elections. The first phase of voting for 102 parliamentary constituencies spread over 21 states and Union Territories (UTs) recorded an a voter turnout of nearly 64%, said the Election Commission of India (ECI).
“High turnout in Phase I of Lok Sabha elections 2024 despite heat wave. Polling remains largely peaceful across 21 states/ UTs. polling is now complete for 10 States/UTs including most of North-east” wrote ECI on X.
The northeastern state of Tripura recorded the highest voter turnout with over 80% polling while Bihar was at the bottom with less than 49% turnout. According to an official release, the voting percentage is likely to go up when reports from all polling stations are obtained, as polling was scheduled until 6 PM in many constituencies. The first phase has the highest number of parliamentary constituencies among all phases.
The political parties have intensified their poll campaigns with PM Modi addressing a poll-bound rally in Karnataka’s in Bengaluru and Chikkaballapura on Saturday, while Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will address two rallies in Bihar’s Bhagalpur and UP’s Amroha.
All eyes are on two major political alliances namely, the INDIA bloc and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA- the major competitors in the Lok Sabha Election 2024. While the INDIA bloc comprises of political parties like the Congress, the AAP, the TMC etc. NDA has the BJP, the PMK, the JDU etc. as its member parties.
NDA is eyeing its third consecutive term this general election, with echoes of ‘abki baar 400 paar’, while the opposition INDIA bloc is taking an economical approach to their campaign, promising MSP for farmers and cash handouts to women in their manifesto.
Lok Sabha Election 2024: Phase-wise schedule:
• Phase 1- April 19
• Phase 2- April 26
• Phase 3- May 7
• Phase 4 – May 13
• Phase 5 – May 20
• Phase 6 – May 25
• Phase 7 – June 1
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