Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Nominations for first phase of general elections commence following ECI's notification

The filing of nominations for the first phase of General Elections commenced this morning. This development follows the Election Commission of India's (ECI) issuance of a notification today. 

The ECI has announced that the polling for these Parliamentary Constituencies (PCs) in Phase 1 will be held on April 19.
 

The official notification for the first phase of the upcoming elections has been issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on March 20. As per the notification, candidates can begin filing their nominations with their respective district election officers.

The deadline for filing nominations for the first phase is March 27. The scrutiny of the nominations will take place on March 28, and the last date for withdrawal of nominations is March 30. The first phase of polls, scheduled for April 19, include thirty-nine seats in Tamil Nadu, 12 in Rajasthan, eight in Uttar Pradesh, six in Madhya Pradesh, five each in Uttarakhand, Assam and Maharashtra, four in Bihar, three in West Bengal, two each in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya and one each in Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshadweep and Puducherry.

In Uttar Pradesh, the crucial eight parliamentary constituencies going to polls in the first phase are Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Nagina (SC), Moradabad, Rampur and Pilibhit.

Voting for the Lok Sabha elections is set to take place in Rajasthan on April 19. The constituencies include Ganganagar, Bikaner, Churu, Jhunjhunu, Sikar, Jaipur Rural, Jaipur, Alwar, Bharatpur, Karauli-Dholpur, Dausa, and Nagaur. The seven-phase elections are scheduled across the country, with counting to occur on June 4. The Election Commission of India released this schedule on March 16.

Prime Minister Modi's BJP is aiming for a record third term, setting a target of 370 seats for the party and 400 for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The BJP has released two lists of candidates, consisting of 265 names, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The main opposition, the Congress party, is contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as part of the INDIA bloc.

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