Lucknow | Polling for the first round of Lok Sabha elections in eight constituencies of western Uttar Pradesh began at 7 am on Friday.

The seats include Saharanpur, Bijnor, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Nagina (reserved), Moradabad, Rampur and Pilibhit. These fall in the Jat and sugarcane belt of the state.

Among the prominent candidates are BJP's Jitin Prasada from Pilibhit, Union minister Sanjeev Balyan from Muzaffarnagar and Azad Samaj Party chief Chandra Shekhar Azad from Nagina.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has joined hands with the Rashtriya Lok Dal while the Samajwadi Party has allied with the Congress for the election. The Bahujan Samaj Party has decided to go solo.

A total of 80 candidates -- 73 men and seven women -- are in the fray in the first phase of polling.

The Election Commission (EC) said, 1.43 crore people are eligible to cast their votes in the first phase. Of them, 76.23 lakh are men, 67.14 lakh are women and 824 are transgender persons.

According to data compiled by political parties, Muslim voters account for 35 to 50 per cent of the electorate in these constituencies.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa said the polling is being held on 14,849 polling booths at 7,689 polling centres.

To ensure tight security arrangements, 6,018 inspectors and sub-inspectors, 35,750 constables and 24,992 home guard personnel, along with 60 companies of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and 220 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) have been deployed.

Bhopal | Polling got underway Friday morning in six Lok Sabha constituencies in Madhya Pradesh, election officials said.

Of the 29 Lok Sabha constituencies in the BJP-ruled state, polling is being held in Shahdol, Mandla (both reserved for Scheduled Tribes), Jabalpur, Balaghat, Chhindwara and Sidhi seats on Friday.

These six constituencies cover 13 districts and 27 assembly segments.

Voting began at 7 am and will end at 6 pm in most places, the official said. Due to security reasons, polling will be held from 7 am to 4 pm in Baihar, Lanji and Paraswada assembly segments of the Naxal-affected Balaghat constituency, he added.

As many as 88 candidates -- 81 men and seven women -- are in the fray across the six constituencies. Jabalpur has the highest 19 candidates while Shadold has the lowest ten candidates in the fray.

Of the 13,588 booths, where the polling is being held, women officials are in charge of 1,118 booths.

The total number of registered voters in the six constituencies is 1,13,09, 636 (57,20,780 male, 55,88,669 female and 187 transgender).

Arrangements for shelter, water and ORS (oral rehydration solution) have been made at polling booths in view of the hot weather.

A helicopter has been stationed in the Naxal-hit Balaghat district while an air ambulance would be available in Jabalpur to meet any eventuality, the official said.

There was 77.82 per cent voting recorded in the November 2023 assembly elections in the state.

The state recorded 61.57 per cent voting in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The percentage rose to 71.16 in 2019 general elections.

Polling for three more phases of Lok Sabha elections in the state will take place on April 26, May 7 and May 13 for the remaining 23 seats.

In 2019, the ruling BJP won 28 out of the 29 Lok Sabha seats and is also eyeing the Chhindwara seat, bagged by the Congress.

Dehradun | Polling began on Friday morning for the five Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand, election officials said.

The voting across 11,729 polling stations began at 7 am and will go on till 5 pm, they said.

Apart from 40,000 police, home guard and Prantiya Raksha Dal personnel, 65 companies of central paramilitary forces have been deployed to ensure free and fair polling in the state.

A total of 1,365 polling stations have been categorised as critical and 809 as vulnerable, Additional Chief Election Officer Vijay Kumar Jogdande said.

The five seats going to polls in Uttarakhand are Haridwar, Pauri Garhwal, Tehri Garhwal, Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar and the lone reserved seat of Almora.

More than 83 lakh voters will decide the fate of 55 candidates in the fray.

Sitting BJP MPs Ajay Bhatt, Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah and Ajay Tamta have been fielded by the party from Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar, Tehri Garhwal and Almora.

The BJP has replaced its candidates in Haridwar and Pauri Garhwal.

Former chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat is contesting in place of Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank from Haridwar and Anil Baluni is in place of Tirath Singh Rawat from Pauri Garhwal.

The Congress has fielded former state unit chief Ganesh Godiyal from Pauri Garhwal, former chief minister Harish Rawat's son Virendra Rawat from Haridwar, Jot Singh Gunsola from Tehri Garhwal, Prakash Joshi from Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar and Pradeep Tamta from Almora.

Candidates from the Bahujan Samaj Party, Uttarakhand Kranti Dal and relatively smaller outfits and Independents are also in the fray. Still, straight contests are likely between traditional rivals -- the BJP and the Congress -- in all the seats.

The BJP won all five seats in the state in the 2014 and 2019 general elections.