Election Phase 1: Star candidates, coveted seats, key battles in 21 states

The stage is all set for the first of the seven phases of the Lok Sabha elections, on April 19, with voting scheduled to take place in 102 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats across 21 states and Union territories. As many as 970 million voters will cast their ballots across the country’s 1.2 million polling stations in the course of the polls.

The first phase of polling will see Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Puducherry as well as the north-eastern states of Nagaland, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Meghalaya voting in a single phase.

To read The Federal's extensive coverage of Elections 2024, click here.

Simultaneous Assembly polls will also be held in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, on April 19, while voting for bypolls will take place in the Ramnagar seat of Tripura and Tamil Nadu’s Vilavancode assembly constituency.

With the BJP-led NDA aiming to cross the 400-mark in the Lok Sabha this time, June 4 will decide whether or not Prime Minister Narendra Modi returns to power for a third consecutive term.

Candidates to watch out for

As the blaring poll battles rage on, the first phase of polling will seal the fate of high-profile candidates such as Nitin Gadkari (BJP, Nagpur), K Annamalai (BJP, Coimbatore), Jitin Prasada (BJP, Pilibhit), Nishith Pramanik (BJP, Cooch Behar), Tamilisai Soundararajan (BJP, Chennai South), Kanimozhi Karunanidhi (DMK, Tuticorin) and Nakul Nath (Congress, Chhindwara).

The Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-affected Bastar constituency in Chhattisgarh will also vote in the first phase of the elections, as will the Inner Manipur constituency and parts of Outer Manipur seat in strife-torn Manipur.

NDA vs Opposition

The BJP, which sounded the poll bugle with the slogan of ‘Teesri Baar Modi Sarkar, Abki Baar 400 Paar’ is confident of a hat-trick; riding high on the cocktail of jingoistic nationalism and Hindutva that the Modi government dished out with the inauguration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya this January, followed in quick succession by the notification of rules for a communally-divisive Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

The two contentious ‘achievements’ have been effortlessly merged by Modi with the third plank of his re-election campaign – that of transitioning India into a ‘developed’ country or Viksit Bharat – by 2047; the centenary of India’s Independence.

The Opposition, in turn, has been targeting the government on a plethora of issues that range from rising unemployment, price rise, agrarian crisis and growing communal discord to assaults on federalism, misuse of central probe agencies against political rivals, the undermining of the Constitution and constitutional institutions, alleged corruption in the Electoral Bonds scheme (now scrapped), crony capitalism and Chinese occupation of Indian territory in Ladakh.

The Congress, which is leading the INDIA bloc, has focused on ‘five pillars of justice’, offering in its poll manifesto 25 guarantees to the voters that directly address farmers, youth, women, labour force and oppressed communities across castes and religions. The guarantees include, among others, a nationwide caste census, a constitutional amendment to raise the 50 per cent cap on reservations for SC, ST and OBC communities, passing the ‘Right to Apprenticeship Act’, legal guarantee to Minimum Support Price, restoration of statehood in Jammu and Kashmir and a ₹1 lakh per annum financial aid to one woman per poor household.

Here's a look at the states and UTs headed for polls in the first phase, and key constituencies:

TAMIL NADU

Constituencies going to poll: All 39 parliamentary constituencies

While the fight will largely be between the ruling DMK-led coalition and the AIADMK, the BJP has been hoping that the upcoming polls will help it make the electoral in-roads in the southern state that has, so far, eluded it despite an ascendant saffron wave in most of north, central and west India. Pitched electoral battles, including three or even multi-cornered contests, are expected in the constituencies of Coimbatore, Chennai North, Chennai South, Tuticorin, Kanyakumari and Dharmapuri while a direct fight is expected between the DMK and the AIADMK in 19 constituencies.

As the DMK’s junior alliance partner in the state, the Congress will contest in nine seats in Tamil Nadu and from the lone seat of Puducherry. The DMK has fielded candidates from 21 seats while its other allies, the CPI, CPI(M) and VCK, were given two seats each, and the MDMK, IUML and KNMK, one seat each.

The BJP, which is yet to open its Lok Sabha account in Tamil Nadu, expects to win Coimbatore this time keeping in mind its communally sensitive nature. The party has pinned its hopes on its state unit chief K. Annamalai, a former IPS officer, who has been targeting the DMK government on various issues and has taken out massive campaigns and rallies in the run-up to the polls. Challenging Annamalai in Coimbatore are the DMK’s Ganapathy P Rajkumar, a former Mayor, and Singai Ramachandran of the AIADMK.

The North Chennai seat will see DMK’s Kalanidhi Veeraswamy, AIADMK’s ‘Royapuram’ Mano and BJP’s RC Paul Kanagaraj slug it out while the South Chennai constituency is headed for a triangular fight between DMK’s Thamizhachi Thangapandian, her childhood friend and BJP candidate Tamilisai Soundarajan and the AIADMK’s Jayavardhan. Soundarajan had quit as Telangana governor days before the BJP officially declared her as its South Chennai nominee.

DMK’s Kanimozhi Karunanidhi will try for a second term from the Thoothukudi seat while PMK candidate Sowmiya Anbumani, wife of party leader Anbumani Ramadoss, has been fielded from Dharmapuri. Ramadoss, whose PMK is now in alliance with the BJP ally, has contested from the seat twice in the past and won once. Sowmiya has reportedly been working in Dharmapuri, a seat won by the DMK five years ago, for the past two years and assiduously wooing the Vanniyar community, which has a formidable presence in the constituency.

The DMK has accused the BJP-led Centre of neglect in tax devolution, flood relief and funding key infrastructure in the state. The BJP, which has targeted the DMK on a host of issues – from the Sanatana Dharma row to allegations of corruption – has recently raked up the Katchatheevu island issue, accusing the party of being mum when it was handed over to Sri Lanka in 1974.

CHHATTISGARH

Constituencies going to polls: 1 of 11 (Bastar, ST)

All eyes will be on the Scheduled Tribe seat of Bastar, an area affected by Maoist insurgency and a crucial constituency among the 11 Lok Sabha seats of Chhattisgarh. The BJP had won six consecutive victories in Bastar – from 1998 to 2004 – until losing it to the Congress’s Deepak Baij in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The Congress has benched Baij this time, after he lost last December’s assembly polls, and fielded party veteran and Sukma MLA Kawasi Lakhma, instead. The BJP has bet on Mahesh Kashyap to wrest the seat from the Congress.

Kashyap, who will be contesting the Lok Sabha polls for the first time, has been part of the BJP’s rabblerousing brigade in tribal-dominated Bastar; frequently leading protests against alleged religious conversion of Hindu tribals to Christianity. The constituency, otherwise notorious for LWE infestation, has in recent years also earned the dubious distinction of being communally sensitive.

The BJP’s success in using the bogey of religious conversion to its electoral advantage was visible in the 2023 Chhattisgarh poll results when it bagged five of the eight assembly segments that fall in the Bastar parliamentary seat; a remarkable turnaround given that the Congress had held each of these eight seats before the polls.

Recent months have also seen an increased crackdown on Maoists in Bastar with at least 33 naxals being gunned down by security personnel since the BJP returned to power last December. While the BJP sees this as a huge success in ‘cleansing’ Bastar of LWE terror, locals do not necessarily share the same assessment and have been complaining that the five years of peace which they enjoyed under the Congress-led state government now stands shattered.

The tribals have also been up in arms against the resumption of rampant mining activity in Bastar ever since the BJP returned to power with Vishnu Deo Sai, a tribal himself, as the CM. Lakhma, a survivor of the 2013 Darbha Ghati Naxal attack that had led to the massacre of Congress leaders VC Shukla, Nandkumar Patel, Mahendra Karma and others, hopes to tap into this unrest against the BJP to win Bastar for the Congress.

UTTAR PRADESH

Constituencies going to polls: 8 of 80 (Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzzafarnagar, Bijnor, Nagina (SC), Moradabad, Rampur and Pilibhit)

Eight of the 80 Lok Sabha constituencies of the state, which sends the highest number of MPs to Lok Sabha, will go to polls in the first phase. Sweeping UP, as it did in the 2014 and 2019 polls, is key to the BJP’s vaulting ambition of crossing the 400+ mark in the Lok Sabha.

Modi has lived up to his reputation of ruthlessly denying tickets to incumbent MPs if doing so helps him reverse anti-incumbency and cut ‘troublemakers’ to size while, at the same time, re-nominating certain faces if it wards off avoidable controversies. This is most evident in the party’s decision to axe Pilibhit MP Varun Gandhi and, instead, field Congress turncoat Jitin Prasada from the constituency instead.

The Pilibhit seat had been a bastion of Varun’s mother Maneka Gandhi since she first won the seat in 1989. Varun inherited the constituency from her mother when he made his successful electoral debut from here in 2009 and after a subsequent five-year stint, beginning 2014, as the MP from Sultanpur, he won Pilibhit again in 2019. This time round, though, Varun’s frequent and robust digs at his party’s government reportedly cost him his ticket, though the BJP made sure to field his mother again from Sultanpur to avert any allegation of sidelining the saffronised half of the Nehru-Gandhi family.

Varun has, so far, not stepped out to campaign for the BJP’s Jitin Prasada in Pilibhit. Last week, when Modi addressed his first-ever poll rally in Pilibhit to bolster Prasada’s prospects, Varun and Maneka were conspicuous by their absence. Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party (SP), which has tied up with the Congress for the upcoming polls, has fielded Bhagwat Saran Gangwar as its candidate from Pilibhit and is hoping that Varun’s absence from the campaign trail would help the SP make some gains. Whether these gains will be enough for a SP win, however, remains uncertain.

Pilibhit aside, the communally sensitive seats of Muzaffarnagar, Kairana, Rampur, Moradabad and Saharanpur in western UP are also expected to see acrimonious poll battles between the BJP and its INDIA bloc rivals. Each of these seats has a sizable Muslim presence and equally large sections of the agrarian Jat community as well as Dalits – voting blocs that have, for different reasons, been peeved with the BJP. With ghosts of the farmers protests still haunting the political landscape of western UP, the BJP is hoping that Modi’s appeal, the party’s recently minted alliance with former SP ally RLD of Jayant Chaudhary and smoldering embers of the Muzaffarnagar Jat-Muslim communal riots will collectively outweigh any anti-incumbency against the regime in this region.

The Muzaffarnagar seat a clash between Union minister and two-time BJP MP Sanjeev Balyan and five-time MLA and former Rajya Sabha MP Harendra Malik of the SP while the neighboring Kairana constituency is already witnessing a high-decibel campaign that has pitted the SP’s Iqra Hasan against incumbent BJP MP Pradeep Chaudhary.

The BJP also has eyes on retaining the Muslim-dominated Rampur seat, the bastion of jailed SP co-founder Azam Khan which the saffron party’s Ghanshyam Lodhi had wrested in a bypoll two years back, as well as snatching a win in the Moradabad constituency, won by the SP’s ST Hasan in 2019. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has been facing criticism of fielding ‘outsiders’ and ignoring loyal party leaders in both these constituencies ever since he chose to field Maulana Mohibullah Nadvi, cleric of Delhi’s Parliament Street mosque, from Rampur and former Bijnor MLA Ruchi Veera from Moradabad, instead of Hasan.

WEST BENGAL

Constituencies going to polls: 3 of 42 (Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduars)

With the Left Front still far from recovering the political ground it lost to Mamata Banerjee in Bengal back in 2011 and its ally, the Congress a fringe player in the state’s politics, the main contest in these three seats is expected to be between the BJP and Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC).

The BJP had won the three seats in 2019 when it witnessed an unprecedented surge in its vote and seat share in the state. Since then, though, the BJP has been losing ground in the state while an aggressive Banerjee, braving her own set of challenges, has been trying to keep another saffron surge at bay.

Banking heavily on Modi to swerve the electorate in their favour, BJP candidates in the three constituencies, including incumbent Cooch Behar MP Nishith Pramanik, are also hopeful of benefitting from any possible voter unrest against the Trinamool, which has been warding off concerted attacks from the saffron party on a litany of issues that include allegations of corruption, minority appeasement, crippling law and order and poor governance, among others.

BIHAR

Constituencies going to polls: 4 of 40 (Aurangabad, Gaya, Nawda, Jamui)

The land of political somersaults is already being touted as the Achilles Heel of the BJP-led NDA coalition, given the increasing friction between its many constituents – particularly Nitish Kumar’s JD (U), Chirag Paswan’s LJP (Ram Vilas), Jitan Ram Manjhi’s (HAM) – and Kumar’s loss of credibility owing to his political promiscuity. The Opposition alliance of Lalu and Tejashwi Yadav’s RJD, the Congress, the Left Front and Mukesh Sahni’s VIP is hopeful of stopping the BJP’s onward march, at least in Bihar, on the back of Tejashwi’s rising popularity and his unsparing broadside against the Modi-Nitish combine.

Of the four seats that go to polls in the first phase, keen contests are expected in Jamui and Gaya. Chirag Paswan, son of late LJP founder Ram Vilas Paswan, had won the Jamui in 2019 but has now shifted to the Hajipur constituency, which his father used to represent. The death of Ram Vilas Paswan saw a bitter spat between his younger brother Pashupati Paras and Chirag for control of the LJP. The party eventually split; many say due to backdoor shenanigans by the BJP, and though both LJP factions continue to be part of the NDA, Paras and Chirag do not see eye to eye.

Jamui has been a LJP stronghold but with the party split and fresh trouble brewing even with Chirag’s own faction, the RJD is hopeful that its candidate Archana Ravidas will wrest the seat. Chirag’s decision to field his brother-in-law and political greenhorn Arun Bharti from Jamui has already drawn strong criticism from the public and LJP insiders alike.

Manjhi, a former Bihar CM, will be facing the polls from his stronghold of Gaya but his ongoing verbal duels with JD (U) – the party he left to form the HAM – and Nitish is expected to harm his victory prospects in Gaya.

It isn’t all rosy for the RJD either. The party has practically forced ally Congress into a corner to accept seats in the alliance the latter did not wish to contest while conceding the few where it had winnable candidates and a cadre. Aurangabad, the erstwhile constituency of former Bihar CM and party stalwart late Satyendra Narayan Sinha, his son, Nikhil Kumar and daughter-in-law Shyama Singh, was among the last remaining Congress strongholds in Bihar. The Congress, has, however been forced to part with the seat this time which has now gone to the RJD’s quota, upsetting Nikhil Kumar, who at 82 years of age, was still hopeful of bouncing back electorally.

RAJASTHAN

Constituencies going to polls: 13 of 25 (Ganganagar, Churu, Bikaner, Jhunjhunu, Sikar, Jaipur Rural, Jaipur, Alwar, Bharatpur, Karauli-Dholpur, Dausa, Nagaur)

Following the Congress’s modest rout in last December’s assembly polls, the state has seen new political alignments and allegiances among leaders. If a large number of Congress leaders have switched to the BJP over the past few months, the Congress has struck back by inducting influential BJP leaders into its ranks while stitching up new alliances with Hanuman Beniwal’s RLP, Rajkumar Roat’s Bharat Adivasi Party and the Left.

The BJP’s denial of a ticket to incumbent Churu MP Rahul Kaswan has created complications for the saffron outfits. Kaswan is a second-term MP from Churu and before him, the seat was won four times by his father, Ram Singh Kaswan. The BJP’s decision to field paralympic javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia from Churu has pushed Kaswan to the Congress, which readily offered him the ticket from his family turf.

The Sikar seat is also witnessing an interesting contest between incumbent MP and BJP candidate Swami Sumedhanand and former CPI(M) MLA Amra Ram, who has been fielded as the joint candidate of the INDIA bloc. A similar BJP versus INDIA fight is panning out in Nagaur too, where former Congress MP and now BJP candidate Jyoti Mirdha is trying her luck against Congress’s newly minted ally, Hanuman Beniwal, the incumbent MP from Nagaur and a prominent Jat leader of the state.

The first phase of polling will seal the fate of Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, who is seeking re-election from his traditional Bikaner constituency on a BJP ticket, and also show whether the Congress, which had been decimated in the assembly polls in Jat and Gujjar dominated regions like Jaipur, Dausa, Bharatpur, Dholpur and Jhunjhunu due to various factors, has been able to recoup.

UTTARAKHAND

Constituencies going to polls: All five (Tehri Garhwal, Garhwal, Almora (SC), Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar, Haridwar)

The BJP has been sweeping all five Lok Sabha seats of ‘Devbhoomi’ Uttarakhand for the last two consecutive polls and is hopeful of an encore this time, thanks to the strong communal polarization that the party has achieved in a once-peaceful hill state.

The state has been reeling under crippling unemployment, made worse by the Centre’s controversial Agnipath recruitment scheme for the Armed Forces, increasing out-migration, environmental disasters due to rampant urbanization and rising prices, particularly of fuel and LPG cylinders. Yet, the BJP’s success in tapping into Hindutva rage through issues like the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code and by turning a blind eye to recurring instances of hate speeches delivered from Hindu Dharm Sansads, has made the party confident that it will retain its hold on the state’s five Lok Sabha seats.

Congress candidates such as the party’s former state unit chief Ganesh Godiyal in Garhwal and Virender Rawat, son of former CM Harish Rawat, in Haridwar have been leading a high-decibel campaign against their BJP rivals, Anil Baluni and former CM Trivendra Singh Rawat, respectively. The Congress has been urging people to not fall for the BJP’s polarization pitch and, instead, seek an account for the past decade of rising joblessness and other failures – a just pitch but one that doesn’t seem to be working, at least for now.

MADHYA PRADESH

Constituencies going to polls: 5 of 29 (Sidhi, Shahdol (ST), Jabalpur, Mandla (ST) Chhindwara, Balaghat)

Like Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the Congress also lost the assembly polls in MP last December. The rout in MP was the worst and has, since, triggered a mass exodus of Congress leaders to a BJP that has traditionally been strong in the state and stronger still during the parliamentary polls.

It is in this backdrop that the Congress finds itself fighting an admittedly difficult poll battle across the 29 seats of the state, the first five of which will go to polls on April 5. The first phase will see at least two interesting contests – in Chhindwara, the lone seat that the Congress had managed to win in MP in 2019 and in Mandla where Union minister Faggan Singh Kulaste will attempt to redeem himself after the humiliation of losing the assembly polls four months ago,

Chhindwara has been the safest seat for the Congress in MP, having elected party veteran Kamal Nath to Lok Sabha for a record nine terms. Nath’s wife Alka Nath has also been a Congress MP from Chhindwara and his son, Nakul Nath, is the incumbent MP of the constituency.

The BJP has pooled in all its might to wrest Chhindwara from the Congress and Naths this time. Curiously, Nakul has entered the poll contest seeking re-election as a Congress candidate weeks after rumours of his and Kamal Nath’s possible entry into the BJP turned out to be false.

MAHARASHTRA

Constituencies going to polls: 5 of 48 (Ramtek [SC], Nagpur, Bhandara - Gondiya, Gadchiroli-Chimur [ST], and Chandrapur)

The first phase of the polls will see Union minister Nitin Gadkari slugging it out in Nagpur against Congress MLA Vikas Thakare.

In Chandrapur, Congress candidate Pratibha Dhanorkar will take on BJP’s Sudhir Mungantiwar. Pratibha is the widow of Suresh Dhanorkar, who was the only Congress candidate to win from the state in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The issues faced by the state’s farmers will play a vital role in determining the winner in all the five seats that fall under the Vidharba region, known for an alarming number of farmer suicides.

The latest row over Maratha reservation and the Opposition’s demand to the Centre to raise the cap on quota from the current 50 per cent limit by introducing a constitutional amendment, has also put the government in a spot.

The Shiv Sena-BJP coalition government on the other hand has been wooing voters with its mega infrastructure projects like the 701-Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway, the Mumbai Trans Harbour link, Mumbai Coastal Road and the Metro rail projects.

With the Opposition targeting the government over farmer suicides and the issue of MSP, the former is banking on Namo Shetkari Maha Samman (under which farmers will be paid additional money) and ‘one rupee’ crop insurance schemes to fill the gap.

NORTH EAST

All together 16 seats in eight north-eastern states will go to the polls in the first phase. Apart from Lok Sabha battle, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim will also simultaneously vote to elect their respective legislative assembly.

The contest for 32 assembly seats in Sikkim will be mainly between the ruling Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM), the main opposition Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) and the BJP.

In Arunachal Pradesh, it's a one-sided contest with the BJP already winning 10 of the 60 seats unopposed. Chief Minister Pema Khandu and his deputy Chowna Mein are among those elected unopposed.

ASSAM

Constituencies going to polls: 5 of 14 (Kaziranga, Sonitpur, Lakhimpur, Dibrugarh, Jorhat)

Of the five seats going to polls on April 19 in Assam, the key contests will be in Jorhat and Dibrugarh. In Jorhat the Congress’s star candidate Gaurav Gogoi is pitted against sitting BJP MP Topon Kumar Gogoi.

The constituency’s 5.5 lakh Ahom voters will play a crucial role in deciding the fate of the two candidates, belonging to the same Ahom community. Gaurav Gogoi’s father and former Assam chief minister, the late Tarun Gogoi was hugely popular among the Ahom community. The Congress leader is banking on his father’s legacy to win the seat against the former general secretary of the influential All Assam Students Union (AASU).

In Dibrugarh, the BJP replaced sitting MP Rameswar Teli to give the ticket to former chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal. Teli is an influential Tea tribe leader that constitutes 30 per cent of the total electorates in the constituency.

The Tea tribe community has played a key role in the growth of the BJP in Upper Assam. However, there is a growing discontentment against the BJP for not fulfilling the community’s long-pending demand of granting ST status. The BJP had promised ST status to the Tea Tribes in 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

AJP’s Lurinjyoti Gogoi is a common candidate of the Congress-led United Opposition Forum, Assam (UOFA). However, the opposition’s unity bid got a setback with the AAP fielding its candidate in the constituency. Its candidate, Manoj Dhanowar, who belongs to Tea Tribe, can emerge as a dark horse.

ARUNACHAL PRADESH

Constituencies going to polls: Both the seats (Arunachal East, Arunachal West)

With 14 candidates in fray for the two Lok Sabha seats in Arunachal Pradesh – eight from Arunachal West and six from Arunachal East – all eyes will be on Union minister Kiren Rijiju who will defend his Arunachal West seat against former chief minister and state Congress Nabam Tuki and Ruhi Tangung of JD(U). Rijiju has won from the seat thrice – 2004, 2014, and 2019.

The BJP had won both the seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

BJP’s Tapir Gao will seek re-election from Arunachal East. Other candidates are Bosiram Siram of the Congress, Bandey Mili from Arunachal Democratic Party and three other Independent candidates.

TRIPURA

Constituencies going to polls: 1 of 2 (Tripura West)

The Congress, a part of the INDIA alliance, has fielded its state president Asish Kumar Saha against BJP candidate and former chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb in one of the two Lok Sabha seats of the state.

Issues concerning illegal migrants and the Centre’s implementation of CAA have been at the centre-stage of political discourse ahead of the polls.

MANIPUR

Constituencies going to polls: Both the seats (Inner Manipur, Outer Manipur)

A seat in northeast that will get immense attention during the first phase polling is the Inner Manipur parliamentary constituency.

BJP’s Thanoujam Basanta Kumar is facing a stiff challenge here from the Congress’ Angcomcha Bimol Akoijam.

With the polls being held under the shadow of the recent ethnic violence in the state in which hundreds were killed, the INDIA bloc has made the alleged silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi a major poll issue.

Voting will be conducted for Outer Manipur both on April 19 and 26

MIZORAM

Constituencies going to polls: Mizoram LS seat

The Zoram People’s Movement has fielded Richard Vanlalhmangaiha against Mizo National Front’s K Vanlalvena and BJP’s Vanlalhmuaka in the state’s lone parliamentary seat.

MEGHALAYA

Constituencies going to polls: Both the seats (Shillong, Tura)

The state is set to witness a multi-pronged battle for its two seats – Shillong and Tura.

The Conrad Sangma-led National People’s Party (NPP), an NDA ally, has fielded women candidates in both seats.

While Vincent H Pala of the Congress is seeking a re-election from the Shillong seat for a fourth consecutive term, NPP has fielded Mazel Ampareen Lyngdoh, a former Congress leader, who is now a minister from the Shilling seat, a stronghold of the Congress for 30 years.

BJP has kept away from the polls and is supporting the NPP.

Trinamool Congress will also be vying for the seats. While Tura’s sitting MP and the chief minister’s sister Agatha Sangma will be contesting from the seat again, the Trinamool, has fielded former minister Zenith Sangma, the brother of former chief minister Mukul Sangma against her.

NAGALAND

Constituencies going to polls: Nagaland LS seat

For the Nagaland Lok Sabha seat, the Nationalist Democratic Progress Party, an ally of the BJP, has fielded Chumben Murry against Congress candidate S Supongmeren Jamir.

SIKKIM

Constituencies going to polls: Sikkim LS seat

The Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) has fielded Indra Hang Subba against Congress’ Gopal Chettri and BJP’s Dinesh Chandra Nepal, a former bureaucrat in the state’s lone Lok Sabha seat.

UNION TERRITORIES

JAMMU AND KASHMIR

Constituencies going to polls: 1 of 5 (Udhampur)

The seat may witness a triangular contest between the BJP, the Congress and former Congress veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad’s fledgling Democratic Azad Party (DPAP). BJP leader and Union minister Jitendra Singh will seek to retain his seat for the third time in a fight against Congress’s Choudhary Lal Singh and SM Saroori of the DPAP.

This is the first major election that J&K is witnessing since the abrogation of Article 370 and the subsequent crackdown on all political rivals of the BJP in the erstwhile state that has now been bifurcated and downgraded to the status of a Union Territory. Expectedly, the abrogation of Article 370, its aftermath, including the Centre’s failure to have assembly elections conducted for the UT, has emerged as the main pivot of the poll campaign.

Despite ample evidence to the contrary, the BJP has been arguing that its action has caused windfall gains for J&K’s development while its rivals have been pointing to new and avoidable challenges that the dubious abrogation has saddled the UT with and promising restoration of J&K’s statehood if voted to power. The Congress has, however, courted a controversy of its own by fielding Lal Singh. A polarising figure, Lal Singh was among the BJP leaders – he joined the Congress only last month – who had led rallies in support of the accused in the Kathua gangrape and murder case and he has often been in the news for taking a contentious stand on sensitive issues, including his demand for a separate state of Jammu for Hindus.

ANDAMAN and NICOBAR ISLANDS - Andaman and Nicobar Islands LS seat

The single parliamentary seat in the Union territory will witness a battle between the Congress and the BJP.

While Congress’ Kuldeep Rai Sharma is seeking a re-election from the constituency, the NDA has pitted Bishnu Pada Ray against him.

Sharma in 2019 had defeated then incumbent BJP MP Vishal Jolly by a narrow margin of 1,407 votes.

The BJP’s decision to field Ray, a three-time MLA from the island, is a strategy to reclaim the island.

LAKSHADWEEP

Constituencies going to polls: Lakshadweep LS seat

The lone seat of the island will witness a contest between Congress candidate Muhammed Hamdulla Sayeed and NCP’s Mohammad Faisal and NCP (Ajit Pawar)’s TP Yusuf.

PUDUCHERRY

Constituencies going to polls: Puducherry LS seat

The Lok Sabha seat that is set for a three-pronged contest will see a battle between Congress incumbent and former chief minister V Vaithilingam, AIADMK’s G Thamizhvendhan and BJP’s A Namassivayam.