Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Uttar Pradesh votes on Phase 1. Check key candidates and constituencies

Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha Elections 2024: The first phase of Lok Sabha Elections 2024 is underway in north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on Friday (Apr 19). UP is the most significant politically, as it holds 80 seats in the Lok Sabha, the largest number for a single state. The state see voting in all seven phases of the general elections.

In the first phase, eight constituencies in western Uttar Pradesh are going to polls.

Here's the list of UP constituencies that will vote in the first phase of elections:

• Saharanpur
• Kairana
• Bijnor
• Muzaffarnagar
• Nagina
• Moradabad
• Rampur
• Pilibhit

In the 2019 elections, the ruling party BJP secured only three seats out of these eight constituencies; Muzaffarnagar, Pilibhit and Kairana.

The Samajwadi Party won the Moradabad and Rampur seats, and the Bahujan Samaj Party won the Saharanpur, Nijnor and Nagina seats. However, the Bharatiya Janata Party defeated the Samajwadi Party during the 2022 by-polls in Rampur.

Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Key Candidates And Constituencies

Pilibhit: The election contest in Pilibhit will be interesting as the Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded Jitin Prasada, who was once a close aide of Rahul Gandhi. BJP's decision to field Prasada has caused a fair amount of buzz as the constituency was represented by Varun Gandhi, who has been sidelined in the upcoming elections. Moreover, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath campaigned aggressively for Prasada, whose main competitors will be Bhagwat Saran Gangwar of SP and Anis Ahmed Khan of BSP.

Rampur: Jailed SP leader, Azam Khan, once had a stronghold over Rampur. This time, his close aide, Mohibullah Nadvi, a cleric of a mosque located on Delhi's Parliament Street, is contesting the elections from the Samajwadi Party. Ghanshyam Lodhi will be contesting from BJP and Zeeshan Khan from BSP.

Muzaffarnagar: This constituency will witness a three-cornered electoral battle with Union Minister Sanjeev Baliyan squaring off against SP's Harindra Malik and BSP's Dara Singh Prajapati.

Saharanpur: Known as the "serial number one seat" in Uttar Pradesh, Saharanpur is a key battleground constituency. In the past decades, the seat has oscillated between SP, BJP and BSP. In 2014, BJP's Lakhanpal won the seat, but BSP's candidate, Haji Fazlur Rehman, won the seat in 2019.

(With inputs from agencies)