Phase 1 Election Day Today: List Of Key Contestants

The Lok Sabha elections in India for 2024 are set to occur between April 19 and June 1, with the first phase beginning on Friday and results expected on June 4. 

This phase will involve 102 seats across 21 states and Union territories, featuring prominent figures like eight Union Ministers, two former Chief Ministers, and one ex-Governor.

Voting will take place across various states, including Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Tripura, Jammu and Kashmir, and Chhattisgarh.

Notable candidates in this phase include Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari, Kiren Rijiju, Sarbananda Sonowal, and others. 

Gadkari, contesting from Nagpur, faces competition from Congress's Vikas Thakre. Rijiju is challenged by Nabam Tuki in Arunachal West.

In Assam's Jorhat, Gaurav Gogoi of Congress competes against BJP's Topon Kumar Gogoi. In Tamil Nadu's Sivaganga, Karti Chidambaram faces Devanathan Yadav and Xavier Dass.

The Coimbatore seat in Tamil Nadu sees BJP's K Annamalai competing against DMK's Ganapathy P Rajkumar and AIADMK's Singai Ramachandran. Tamilisai Soundararajan, former Telangana Governor, contests from Chennai South.

In Madhya Pradesh, Congress's Nakul Nath contests from Chhindwara against BJP. Union Minister Jitendra Singh competes in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur against Congress's Chaudhary Lal Singh.

Uttar Pradesh witnesses key battles in Saharanpur, with Imran Masood from Congress-SP alliance, Raghav Lakhanpal Sharma from BJP, and Majid Ali from BSP. 

In Pilibhit, Jitin Prasada of BJP challenges SP's Bhagwant Saran Gangwar and BSP's Anees Ahmed Khan.