Polling for 1st phase of LS polls begin tomorrow

Polling for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections will be held tomorrow in 124 constituencies spread over 17 states and Union Territories.

RJD's Lalu Prasad, BJP's Murli Manohar Joshi, Telangana Rashtra Samiti's K Chandrasekhar Rao, Congress' Renuka Chowdhury, actress Vijayasanthi, NTR's daughter D Purandeswari and former Union Minister B Dattatreya are among the prominent names seeking election to the Lower House of Parliament in the first phase.

While all 20 seats in Kerala, 11 in Chhattisgarh and two in Meghalaya would go to polls in a single phase tomorrow, polling would be held in 13 out of 40 seats in Bihar, 16 out of 80 in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra 13 (48), Andhra Pradesh 22 (42), Jharkhand, Orissa 10 (21), Assam 3 (14), Arunachal Pradesh 2 (2), Manipur 1 (2) and Jammu and Kashmir 1 (6). The lone seats in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Mizoram and Nagaland would also be covered.

Voters casting their vote in the first phase will have to wait for more than a month for the results as counting will be taken up only on May 16. Elections are also simultaneously being held to 154 assembly constituencies in Andhra Pradesh and 70 assembly seats in Orissa in the first phase.

A total of 1,715 candidates, including 122 women, are seeking elections to the Lok Sabha. The polling would be held across 1.85 lakh election stations. As has become customary, voters would be exercising their franchise through Electronic Voting Machines.