Lok Sabha Elections 2024 Phase 1: Workers from the BJP and Trinamool Congress battled in Cooch Behar, Bengal, while there was gunshot heard coming from a polling site in Manipur. In Imphal, a voting place was vandalized.
Today marked the beginning of the enormous electoral process to elect the 18th Lok Sabha, with 102 seats spread over 21 states and Union Territories. In Phase 1, almost 60.03 percent of voters cast ballots. Reports of sporadic violence came from Bengal and Manipur.
Here are the top ten points from this major story:
- The Poll body Election Commission, which is overseeing the seven-phase exercise over the next 43 days, said in a statement, The Election Commission is working hard to ensure a smooth, transparent, and comprehensive electoral procedure in the General Elections of 2024’s later stages. -Lok Sabha Elections 2024
- Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, which elected assemblies yesterday, had turnouts of 68 and 68.3 percent, respectively. In 2019, 81.4 percent of people voted in Sikkim, while 65.1% voted in Arunachal Pradesh.
- Tamil Nadu, one of the few states that held a single-day election, saw a voter turnout of 67.2 percent, down from 72.4 percent in 2019. Rajasthan, along with Tamil Nadu, accounted for half of the 102 seats that went to vote today, with 57.3 percent voting, down from 64%.
- At 7 p.m., Uttar Pradesh had 59.5 percent vote, while Madhya Pradesh had 66.7 percent. One of the highest turnouts, 77.6 percent, occurred in Bengal, where the BJP hopes to reduce the deficit with Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress. In 2019, the BJP secured 18 of the state’s 42 seats.
- There was a strong turnout in the northeastern states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) states, including Assam (72.3%), Meghalaya (74.5%), Manipur 69.2%), Arunachal Pradesh 67.7%), and tiny Tripura (80.6%).
- Workers from the BJP and Trinamool Congress battled in Cooch Behar, Bengal, accusing each other of attacking poll workers and using violence. This was reported by news agency PTI. The police refuted reports of any violence. A gunshot was heard coming from a voting place in Bishnupur, Manipur. A voting place in the Imphal East district was vandalized. Two elderly voters in Tamil Nadu, one of whom was 77 years old, passed away in polling places in the Salem district.
- The BJP, which has been expressing great optimism that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will serve a third term in office, only secured 50% of the seats that were up for grabs in the most recent general election. Of these seats, the UPA had won 45 and the NDA 41. Redraws of six seats have been made as part of the delimitation process.
- The BJP is mostly relying on Bengal and the south, Karnataka, particularly Tamil Nadu, where it hasn’t yet opened an account, to reach its goal of 370 seats. Union minister and main strategist for the BJP Amit Shah stated that PM Modi’s popularity “will translate into our best showing in the south” in a special interview with NDTV today.
- The Congress, which has been forced to leave most of northern India, maintains that a resurgence is imminent. The party would fare better in most northern states, including the BJP strongholds of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, according to senior leader KC Venugopal. With the alliance with the DMK in Tamil Nadu and the assembly poll successes in Telangana and Karnataka, it give a great deal of optimism about the outcomes in the south.
- On June 4, there will be a vote count.
Also Read: Maharashtra Lok Sabha Elections 2024