Lok Sabha elections: Campaigning ends for 91 seats going to polls in first phase on April 11

The hustle and bustle of campaigning came to an end on Tuesday in 91 Lok Sabha constituencies spread over 20 states and Union Territories which will go to the polls on Thursday marking the start of the mega seven-phase electoral exercise.

The high decibel campaign by political parties for the first phase of the crucial Lok Sabha elections has ended on Tuesday. (Image: PTI)

91 Lok Sabha constituencies spread over 18 states and two Union Territories will go to polls on April 11.

The first phase involves all the 25 Lok Sabha constituencies of Andhra Pradesh, and 17 from Telangana.

In Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim and Odisha, assembly polls to 175, 32 and 28 seats, respectively, will be held simultaneously in the first phase.

NEW DELHI: High-decibel campaigning for 91 Lok Sabha constituencies in 18 states and two Union Territories going to polls on April 11 ended Tuesday. The 48-hour period preceding the conclusion of voting is called the "silence period" during which any kind of political campaigning is prohibited. As the silence period began, the election rallies and street corner meetings ended in the 91 constituencies of Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Sikkim, Telangana, Tripura, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep. In the first phase, voting will take place in all seats in eight states and two Union Territories. These include all the 25 Lok Sabha seats of Andhra Pradesh, 17 seats of Telangana, five seats of Uttarakhand, two seats each of Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Meghalaya, and one seat each of Chhattisgarh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Andaman & Nicobar Islands as well as Lakshadweep. The first phase will also cover Uttar Pradesh's eight out of 80 Lok Sabha seats, four out of 40 seats of Bihar, two out of 42 seats of West Bengal and two out of six in Jammu and Kashmir. The electorate in five (of 14 constituencies) in Assam, one (of 11) in Chhattisgarh, seven (of 48) in Maharashtra, one (of two) in Manipur, four (of 21) in Odisha and one (of two) in Tripura would also cast their votes in this phase. In Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim and Odisha, assembly polls to 175, 32 and 28 seats, respectively, will be held simultaneously in the first phase. Elections for all 25 Lok Sabha and 175 assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh will be held simultaneously on April 11. TDP president and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's campaign was centered around the "evil trio" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and YSR Congress president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy. The YSRC chief urged people that he be given "one chance" to usher in a "welfare state" modelled on the lines of his late father Y S Rajasekhara Reddys administration. The third player in the current elections is actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan of the Jana Sena. Grant of special category status for the state, construction of capital Amaravati, major projects like Polavaram, were among the issues raised in the campaign. In Telangana, elections will be held on all 17 seats in the first phase.The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti is hoping to sweep the polls in alliance with Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM, who is aiming for a fourth consecutive win from the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat. The Nizamabad constituency will be in focus as over 170 farmers are in the fray. TRS supremo and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter K Kavitha is seeking re-election from this seat. Other prominent candidates are Congress leader Renuka Chowdary (Khammam) and state Congress president Uttam Kumar Reddy. In eight western Uttar Pradesh constituencies the ruling BJP will clash with the newly-formed SP-BSP-RLD alliance. In the 2014, the BJP won all the seats -- Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar.But in a by-election last year, it lost Kairana to a joint opposition candidate. In Muzaffarnagar, RLD chief Ajit Singh will take on BJP's Sanjeev Balyan. His son Jayant Chaudhary is fielded against Union minister Satyapal Singh in Baghpat. Union ministers V K Singh and Mahesh Sharma are BJP candidates in Ghaziabad and Guatam Budh Nagar, respectively. Polling in Uttarkhand's five Lok Sabha seats will be completed on April 11. The BJP had won all the seats in 2014. Prominent candidates from the Congress include Pritam Singh (Tehri),  former CM Harish Rawat (Nainital) and senior BJP leader BC Khanduri's son Manish Khanduri from Pauri. Interesting contests are expected in Tehri, where BJP has pitted twice MP Mala Rajya Lakshmi Shah against Pritam Singh, in Nanital where its senior leader Ajay Bhatt, who is making his poll debut, is pitted against Harish Rawat. In Odisha four Lok Sabha and 28 assembly seats, including several naxal-hit areas, are going to polls. The first phase polling will decide the fate of 26 Lok Sabha candidates and 191 assembly nominees. (With inputs from agencies)

Published at : 09 Apr 2019 10:13 PM (IST)

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