Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Voting for the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections is underway in India.
Voting will be held in seven phases stretched over 44 days from April 19 to June 1 to fill the 543-member Lok Sabha – the lower house of the Indian parliament. Likewise, state legislative elections will be held in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim states.
In the first phase, people are casting their votes for 102 seats across 21 states and union territories. A total of 1,625 candidates are in the fray in the first phase. Voting is being held on all seats of Tamil Nadu (39), Rajasthan (12), Uttar Pradesh (8), Madhya Pradesh (6), Uttarakhand (5), Arunachal Pradesh (2), Meghalaya (2), Andaman and Nicobar Islands (1), Mizoram (1), Nagaland (1), Puducherry (1), Sikkim (1) and Lakshadweep (1). Likewise, voting is being held in five seats each in Assam and Maharashtra, four in Bihar, three in West Bengal, two in Manipur, and one each in Tripura, Jammu and Kashmir and Chhattisgarh.
Election in Numbers:
Election Period: 44 days (April 19 to June 1, 2024)
Election Dates: April 19 (Phase I), April 26 (II), May 7 (III), May 13 (IV), May 20 (V), May 25 (VI), June 1 (VII)
Counting: Votes will be counted and results will be declared on June 4, 2024
Seats up for grabs: 543
State Assembly Elections: Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim
National Parties: 6
State Parties: 57
Election Officials: Approx 15 million
Electronic Voting Machines: Approx 5.5 million
Polling Stations: Approx 1 million
Number of voters: Approx 970 million
Estimated Cost: $15 billion
