The first phase of Lok Sabha elections, covering 102 parliamentary seats across 21 states and one Union territory, is set to take place on April 19. Additionally, voting will be held for 92 assembly constituencies in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. The election campaign for these seats concluded on Wednesday.

This phase will decide the fate of several senior leaders, including eight Union ministers, two former chief ministers, and a former governor. The results for the Lok Sabha elections will be declared on June 4, while the results for the Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh Assembly elections will be announced on June 2.

Key Lok Sabha constituencies participating in the first phase of voting include Saharanpur, Bijnor, Rampur, Pilibhit, and Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh; Dibrugarh and Sonitpur in Assam; Bastar in Chhattisgarh; Jamui and Gaya in Bihar; and Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir.

Prominent candidates in this phase include Union Road and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, aiming for a third successive victory from Nagpur; Union Minister Jitendra Singh contesting from Udhampur; Union Minister Kiren Rijiju seeking re-election from Arunachal West; and Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal contesting from Dibrugarh.

Union Minister Sanjeev Balyan from Muzaffarnagar, Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav from Alwar, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal from Bikaner, and BJP’s Tamil Nadu President K Annamalai from Coimbatore are some of the other key contenders.

Youth Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi is contesting from Jorhat in Assam, while Manipur’s Law and Education Minister Basant Kumar Singh is the BJP candidate from Inner Manipur.

BJP candidate Devendra Jhajharia, a two-time Paralympic gold medalist, is contesting from Churu in Rajasthan, and Nakul Nath, son of former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, is contesting from Chhindwara.

By Manish Poswal