Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 1: BJP vs INDIA Bloc as India Votes in 1st Phase of Polls

The first phase of the 7-phase exercise will feature voting for 102 seats across 21 states and Union Territories. This includes five seats each in Assam and Maharashtra, four in Bihar, three in West Bengal, two seats in Manipur, and one seat each in Tripura, Jammu and Kashmir, and Chhattisgarh. Additionally, four states — Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh — will also elect new assemblies alongside the Lok Sabha. Arunachal Pradesh (60 seats) and Sikkim (32) are the first to conduct elections today.

The Prime Minister has set the NDA a target of 400 seats. In the last election, the NDA won 353 seats, an increase of 5% from 2014, with the BJP securing 303 seats. The Opposition bloc INDIA, which witnessed disarray in the run-up to the polls, has united following the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the liquor policy case. However, there are instances of parties going against their guaranteed one-on-one contests against the BJP, particularly Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress and Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party.

The BJP aims to win 22 of the 25 seats in the northeast, consolidate its presence in the Hindi heartland, Jammu, and Gujarat, and make gains in Bengal and Odisha. The party also hopes to secure a strong foothold in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu with the support of smaller parties. Meanwhile, the Congress anticipates an improved performance in northern states and projects confidence in the south due to recent victories in Telangana and Karnataka and its alliance with DMK in Tamil Nadu. The first phase will see prominent leaders contesting, including Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Jitendra Singh, Kiren Rijiju, Arjun Ram Meghwal, and Sanjiv Balian, former Telangana governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, Congress’s Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi, and former Chief Minister of Assam Sarbananda Sonowal.

In the 2019 elections, the UPA won 45 of the 102 seats, while the NDA secured 41. The counting of votes is scheduled for June 4.