TNI Bureau: Voting for for the first phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections began in 21 states at 7 AM amid tight security.

In this first phase, the voting is being held in as many as 102 Lok Sabha seats across 21 states and Union territories of the country.

The Polling is being held in all seats of Tamil Nadu (39), Uttarakhand (5), Arunachal Pradesh (2), Meghalaya (2), Andaman and Nicobar Islands (1), Mizoram (1), Nagaland (1), Puducherry (1), Sikkim (1), and Lakshadweep (1). Besides, there will be voting in 12 seats in Rajasthan, 8 in Uttar Pradesh, 6 in Madhya Pradesh, 5 seats each in Assam and Maharashtra, 4 in Bihar, 3 in West Bengal, 2 in Manipur, and one seat each in Tripura, Jammu and Kashmir, and Chhattisgarh.

Out of these 102 seats, the UPA had won 45 seats while NDA had got 41 seats and six of these seats have been redrawn as part of the delimitation exercise.

Here’s what’s open for 2024 Lok Sabha Phase 1 polls:

• Stock markets will remain open today.
• Though the State governments have declared public holiday today, but not all private offices will be closed.

Here’s what’s closed for 2024 Lok Sabha Phase 1 polls:

• Banks will remain closed in the cities of Chennai, Agartala, Dehradun, Aizawl, Itanagar, Jaipur, Kohima, Nagpur, and Shillong.
• Government offices, schools and colleges will also remain closed in some States as the governments have declared public holidays on April 19 for voting.
• Liquor shops will also remain shut on the voting day as the election commission has announced a dry day in the polling constituencies 48 hours before the voting itself.