PM Modi Urges Record Voter Turnout as Lok Sabha Polls Begin
The Lok Sabha elections of 2024 saw the start of voting on Friday morning. In the first round of the seven-phase general elections, voters in 102 seats distributed throughout 21 states and union territories cast ballots. Young people and first-time voters are being encouraged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make significant use of their constitutional rights.
Today marks the start of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections! I encourage everyone who will be voting in the 102 seats spread over 21 States and UTs to exercise their right to vote in unprecedented numbers. I especially urge young people who are voting for the first time to cast a lot of ballots. Every voice matters and every vote counts, after all,” he posted on X early on Friday.
Out of India’s 97 crore registered voters for the elections to the 543-strong Lok Sabha, the country’s Lower House of Parliament, 16.63 crore are eligible to vote today.
In the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections, 35.67 lakh first-time voters and 3.51 crore young voters aged between 20 and 29 are also eligible to vote. The Lok Sabha elections will conclude in Tamil Nadu (39 seats), Uttarakhand (5), Arunachal Pradesh (2), Meghalaya (2), Andaman and Nicobar Islands (1), Mizoram (1), Nagaland (1), Puducherry (1), Sikkim (1) and Lakshadweep (1), after the first phase of polling.
In Rajasthan, 12 seats have gone to polls. Eight seats in Uttar Pradesh, six in Madhya Pradesh, five seats each in Assam and Maharashtra, four in Bihar, three in West Bengal, two in Manipur, and one seat each in Tripura, Jammu and Kashmir and Chhattisgarh, will also vote today.
Voting for the assembly elections is underway in Arunachal Pradesh (60 seats) and Sikkim (32 seats). Union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Sarbananda Sonowal, Gaurav Gogoi of Congress, and DMK’s Kanimozhi are in the fray in Phase 1 of the Lok Sabha elections.
Besides Gadkari, Sonowal, seven other Union ministers–Bhupendra Yadav, Kiren Rijiju, Sanjeev Baliyan, Jitendra Singh, Arjun Ram Meghwal, L Murugan and Nisith Pramanik–are in the poll fray in the first phase.
Pulling off a stellar performance in Tamil Nadu is central to the BJP’s plan to win 370 seats and steer the NDA to the 400-plus figure.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spearheaded an aggressive election campaign in Tamil Nadu, with development and honour for Tamil language and culture as his main election plank. The BJP and the DMK also attacked each other over the Katchatheevu issue.
