Live updates for the 2024 Lok Sabha Election: India is gearing up for tomorrow’s first-phase vote, with preparations well underway

Preparations are well underway in many states as the nation gets ready for the Friday, April 19, first round of the Lok Sabha elections. States including Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu, among others, will cast ballots on Friday, according to the timetable released by the Election Commission of India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrapped up his election campaign in Assam and Tripura on Wednesday. Meanwhile, leaders of the INDIA bloc Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, the chairman of the Samajwad Pashupati party, together held a news conference in Ghaziabad to endorse Congress candidate Dolly Sharma.

Phase-by-phase polling dates for the 2024 Lok Sabha Election

Step 1: April 19; Step 2: April 26
Phase 3: May 7.
Phases 4 through 13 May, 5 through 20 May, 6 through 25 May, and 7 through 1 June

LIVE UPDATES FOR THE 2024 LOK SABHA ELECTION
BJP MP Mahesh Sharma Stirs Up Controversy With Modi-Yogi Speech: Mahesh Sharma of the Bharatiya Janata Party (MP) caused a stir a few days before to the Lok Sabha elections when he said that anyone who don’t see Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “their own” are “traitors.” SEE MORE

Wife of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar will submit Nomination Today: At the Shreemant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati temple in Pune, Ajit Pawar performed prayers with his spouse, Sunetra Pawar, an NCP candidate from Baramati. Today, she is scheduled to present her candidacy against NCP-SCP MP Supriya Sule.

PM Modi writes, “Not ordinary elections,” to the BJP and NDA candidates. On the occasion of Ram Navami, Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally penned letters to every member of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) who is contesting the first round of the Lok Sabha election on Wednesday. Thanking his party members for their unwavering labor, Prime Minister Modi emphasized that the 2024 Lok Sabha election will not be like previous ones. The PM’s letter said, “With this letter, I would like to tell the people of your constituency that this is not an ordinary election.”