Voters show their identification cards as they wait in queues to cast their votes.
Credit: PTI File Photo
The parliamentary elections to elect members to the 18th Lok Sabha begin on Friday, April 19.
With 96.8 crore voters, the highest in the world, the exercise promises to be gargantuan one, and will be held over seven phases in a bid to ensure adequate security and eliminate logistical difficulties.
Friday—Phase 1—will see 21 states and Union Territories (UTs) head to the polls, with 102 constituencies under contest: while some states will see all parliamentary constituencies vote on Friday, others will only have partial polls, with voting for the remaining seats slated to be held over the other phases.
The states which will see voting on Friday include Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal.
Elections will also be held in the following UTs—Andaman & Nicobar, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshadweep, and Puducherry—on Friday.
Check the full schedule below:
1. Arunachal Pradesh (2)
Arunachal West
Arunachal East
2. Assam (5)
Kaziranga
Sonitpur
Lakhimpur
Dibrugarh
Jorhat
3. Bihar (4)
Aurangabad
Gaya (SC)
Nawada
Jamui
4. Chhattisgarh (1)
Bastar
5. Madhya Pradesh (6)
Sidhi
Shahdol ST
Jabalpur
Mandla ST
Balaghat
Chhindwara
6. Maharashtra (5)
Ramtek
Nagpur
Bhandara - Gondiya
Gadchiroli - Chimur
Chandrapur
7. Manipur (2)
Inner Manipur
Outer Manipur
8. Meghalaya (2)
Shillong
Tura
9. Mizoram (1)
Mizoram
10. Nagaland (1)
Nagaland
11. Rajasthan (12)
Ganganagar
Bikaner
Churu
Jhunjhunu
Sikar
Jaipur Rural
Jaipur
Alwar
Bharatpur
Karauli-Dholpur
Dausa
Nagaur
12. Sikkim (1)
Sikkim
13. Tamil Nadu (39)
Thiruvallur SC
Chennai Central
Sriperumbudur
Chennai North
Kancheepuram SC
Chennai South
Arakkonam
Vellore
Krishnagiri
Dharmapuri
Tiruvannamalai
Arani
Viluppuram SC
Kallakurichi
Salem
Namakkal
Erode
Tiruppur
Nilgiris SC
Coimbatore
Pollachi
Dindigul
Karur
Tiruchirappalli
Perambalur
Cuddalore
Chidambaram SC
Mayiladuturai
Nagapattinam
Thanjavur
Sivaganga
Madurai
Theni
Virudhunagar
Ramanathapuram
Thoothukudi
Tenkasi SC
Tirunelveli
Kanyakumari
14. Tripura (1)
Tripura West
15. Uttar Pradesh (8)
Saharanpur
Kairana
Muzaffarnagar
Bijnor
Nagina
Moradabad
Rampur
Pilibhit
16. Uttarakhand (5)
Tehri Garhwal
Garhwal
Almora SC
Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar
Haridwar
17. West Bengal (3)
Coochbehar SC
Alipurduars ST
Jalpaiguri
18. Andaman & Nicobar (1)
Andaman and Nicobar islands
19. Jammu and Kashmir (1)
Udhampur
20. Lakshadweep (1)
Lakshadweep
21. Puducherry (1)
Puducherry
After the conclusion of the first phase, six more phases of polls will be held on April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1, respectively.
Counting votes for the Lok Sabha polls, meanwhile, will take place for all states and UTs simultaneously on June 4.