The first phase of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections is set to take place on April 11. A total of 16633 polling stations have been set up. Campaigning for the first phase ended on April 9.
New Delhi: Tomorrow is the beginning of the most significant democratic election in the world in which nearly 90 crore voters will exercise their franchise in about 10 lakh polling stations across the country over the next five weeks.
All arrangements are in place for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on April 11 in which 91 Parliamentary constituencies spread over 20 states, and union territories will go to polls.
These include 25 constituencies in Andhra Pradesh, eight in Uttar Pradesh; seven in Maharashtra; five each in Uttarakhand and Assam; four each in Bihar and Odisha; two each in Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and West Bengal; and one each in Chhattisgarh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim, Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep.
Simultaneously, voting will also take place for single phase Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and for 28 of 147 seats in Odisha.
Security forces held flag marches in sensitive pockets, and liquor shops are closed till the end of polling in Uttar Pradesh. Interstate borders with Delhi, Haryana and Uttarakhand have been sealed along these constituencies.
In Uttar Pradesh, India’s largest State, a total of 96 contestants are in the fray for the 8 Lok Sabha seats.
All 80 Lok Sabha seats of the State are scheduled for polls in seven phases.
The eight seats going for polls in the first phase are Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddha Nagar on 11th April. A total of 122 candidates had contested for these seats in the previous General Election held in 2014.
In this General Election, the number of independent candidates has also come down significantly. While 47 independent candidates had contested in 2014, this year only 20 Independent candidates are in the fray.
More than 55 lakh new electors have been added in Uttar Pradesh since the last General Election, out of which 16.75 lakh electors are in the age group of 18-19 years.
The State of Uttar Pradesh is scheduled to go for polls in all seven phases of the upcoming General Elections with a total of 14,43,16,893 electors.
As per data sourced from the National Election Planner, the number of electors in Uttar Pradesh includes 7,79,41,577 men, 6,61,11,941 women and 8374 others. As many as 2,54,950 service electors are also part of the Electoral Roll 2019.
The total number of electors has increased by 55,06,336 (i.e. 3.96 per cent) since 2014 in the state.
1,63,331 polling stations are being set up in the country. It may be noted that the polling percentage was highest at 58.44 per cent in Uttar Pradesh in 2014.
Four Parliamentary Constituencies (PCs) of Aurangabad, Gaya, Nawada and Jamui will vote on 11th April. Thirty-six more Lok Sabha seats will be contested in the remaining 6 phases.
74,40,324 voters are eligible to vote in Phase 1, with 38,94,024 males, 35,46,001 females and 299 voters in Third Gender category.
Forty-four candidates will contest for 4 Lok Sabha seats in Phase 1 elections through 7,486 polling stations.
In the state of Chhattisgarh, the parliamentary constituency (PC) of Bastar will be going to polls on 11th April. Bastar is reserved for the Scheduled Tribe and has an electorate of 13,77,946 out of which 6,62,355 are male voters, 7,15,550 are female voters, and 41 are others. 1,878 polling booths have been set up.
The PC of Bastar comprises of 8 assembly constituencies. Polling will take place between 7:00 AM and 5:00 PM in the assembly constituencies of Kondagaon, Chitrakoot, Bastar and Jagdalpur. Voting will take place between 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM in the assembly constituencies of Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur and Konta due to security reasons.
Polling for Lok Sabha elections in the state of Chhattisgarh will take place in the first three phases of the seven-phased General Election. Chhattisgarh is divided into 11 parliamentary constituencies.
This includes 4 ST parliamentary constituencies, 1 SC parliamentary constituency and six general category parliamentary constituencies. Polling will take place in the state on 11th, 18th and 23rd April.
As per the latest data, the total number of electors for 2019 in the state are 1,89,99,251. 49.91% of the entire electorate is female. A total number of 23,727 polling stations have been set up. A total of 4,90,636 electors between the ages of 18-19 are voting for the first time and make for 2.58% of the total population.
In the Lok Sabha election 2014, the total number of electors were 1,76,64,520 out of which 49.35% were women electors. The overall poll percentage in the state was 69.39%.
Mizoram will go to polls in the first phase. Elections will be held in one Lok Sabha seat, Mizoram (ST) on 11th April.
As per available data, Mizoram has 7,84,405 voters, which includes 3,81,991 male voters, 4,02,408 female voters and six others. Six candidates are in the fray for the constituency.
1,175 polling stations have been set up for smooth conduct of polls. For Bru refugees, who are living in camps in Tripura, 15 special polling booths will also be set up in Kanhmun at the Mizoram - Tripura border.
Arunachal Pradesh will go to polls for General Elections-2019 in a single phase. Arunachal West Parliamentary constituency and Arunachal East Parliamentary constituency will vote on 11th April.
There are 7,98,248 voters in the state with 3,94,456 males and 4,03,792 females.
As per available data, Arunachal West Parliamentary constituency has 4,61,214 voters with 2,23,234 male voters and 2,37,980 female voters while Arunachal East Parliamentary constituency has 3,37,034 voters with 1,71,222 male voters and 1,65,812 female voters.
Interestingly, Arunachal West Parliamentary constituency has more female voters enrolled, making Arunachal Pradesh’s overall female voter count greater than male voter count.
Seven candidates, including one woman, are in the fray for Arunachal West Parliamentary constituency seat while five candidates are contesting from Arunachal East Parliamentary constituency seat. 2,202 polling stations are in place for voting.
Polling station No. 52 SE (Power) offices, East Side, Naharlagun under 13-Itanagar (ST) AC with 1,340 voters has the highest number of electors in the state.
The polling station with the least number of electors is Malogam temporary structure in Malogam village under 45-Hayuliang (ST) Assembly Constituency with one female voter.
Polling station No. 18-Luguthang under 3-Mukto (ST) Assembly Constituency is the highest polling station located at an altitude of about 13,583 feet.
Also, 11 Polling stations have been set up in the state exclusively for female voters.
Sikkim will go to polls in the first phase. Sikkim has only one Lok Sabha Constituency, (Gen) where elections will be held on 11th April.
As per available data, Sikkim has 4,23,325 voters, which include 2,16,222 males and 2,07,103 females. The number of first-time electors in the age group of 18-19 years is 20,246.
Eleven candidates are in the fray for Sikkim Lok Sabha Constituency. 567 polling stations have been set up for the smooth conduct of polls.
Nagaland will go to polls for in the first phase. Polls will be held in Nagaland (Gen) Parliamentary constituency on 11th April.
As per the data available, Nagaland has 12,06,287 voters, which include 6,07,859 males, 5,98,428 females. The number of first-time voters in the age group of 18-19 years is 21,180.
Four candidates are in the fray for Nagaland Parliamentary constituency. 2,227 polling stations have been set up for smooth conduct of polls
Assam will go to polls in Phase 1. Five Parliamentary Constituencies (PCs) of Tezpur, Kaliabor, Jorhat, Dibrugarh and Lakhimpur will vote on April 11. There are a total of 14 PCs in Assam, and five constituencies will go to polls in phase 2 while four will be contested in phase 3.
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