Lok Sabha Elections 2024: All you need to know about top 20 candidates of mega polls

India has been preparing for the general elections to be held in the summer of 2024 and more than 960 million voters are expected to cast their votes in the world's biggest democratic exercise in the world.

The elections will lay down the political landscape of the country for the next five years.

In the elections, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is aiming at consolidating its grip at the centre and coming back to power for a third term with a historic number of over 400.

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Meanwhile, the opposition parties, led by Congress have formed a united front called INDIA to stop PM Modi from claiming another victory.

Here are the top 20 key players in General Elections 2024

Narendra Modi

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been the electoral poster boy for the ruling BJP and is set to contest the Lok Sabha elections 2024 from the Varanasi constituency in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Currently, he is an elected MP from the same cityafter he clincheda landmark victory in the2019 General Elections.

Amit Shah

BJP leader and Home Minister Amit Shah will be contesting the elections from his constituency Gandhinagar.

Rajnath Singh

The BJP, in its list of candidates selected for the general electionsannounced the BJP leader and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to fight fromLucknow.

Also Read:Lok Sabha Election 2024: PM Modi says 'our partnership at threshold of completing decade' in letter to country

Rahul Gandhi

Amid speculations over whether the Congress leader will again contest Lok Sabha elections from Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, the opposition party confirmed that Gandhi will fight in the polls from his constituency Wayanad, Kerala.

In the 2019 General Elections, Gandhi had tasteddefeat in the hands of BJP's Smriti Irani fromAmethi.

Priyanka Gandhi

The Congress party has not yet announced the constituency from where Priyanka Gandhi will fight in the elections. However, reports suggest that she may fight polls from Rae Bareli, which is a seat formerly held by Sonia Gandhi.

Mamata Banerjee

Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress has announced the list of 42 candidates for Lok Sabha seats across West Bengal. However, it remains unclear from which seat the West Bengal chief minister would be contesting.

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Akhilesh Yadav

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is most likely to contest for the parliamentary seat from his family bastion Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh

N Chandrababu Naidu

TDP's N Chandrababu Naidu is expected to contest Lok Sabha elections from his constituency Kuppam, Andhra Pradesh.

Arvind Kejriwal

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has released its first list which contains eight candidates who will be contesting elections from different constituencies of Punjab. However, it has not been announced from which constituency will Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal fight elections.

Jagan Reddy

Andhra Pradesh's ruling party YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) is yet to announce its list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. In the last elections, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy had clinched victory on the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat with more than 5.63 lakh votes.

MK Stalin

DMK leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has been discussing the allocation of constituencies with senior leaders of the party and has finalised 21 DMK candidates, who will be contesting elections. It remains unclear from which constituency will Stalin fight in the elections.

Smriti Irani

Union Minister Smriti Irani will again be contesting Lok Sabha elections from Amethi. Irani, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, had achieved a huge victorydefeatingCongress leader Rahul Gandhi by 468,514 votes.

Nitin Jairam Gadkari

BJP leader Nitin Jairam Gadkari will be contesting the elections from Nagpur constituency.

Manohar Lal Khattar

The former chief minister of Haryana and BJP leader Manohar Lal Khattarn has been given theKarnal constituency to fight from.

Piyush Goyal

Piyush Goyal will be contesting the elections from Mumbai North, which is being seen as one of the safest seats for the minister.

S Jaishankar

India's Foreign Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is set to contest Lok Sabha elections for the first time and most probably from a constituency in Karnataka.

Nirmala Sitharaman

India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is also set to contest elections from Karnataka, however, her constituency still remains to be disclosed.

Nitish Kumar

Bihar’s Chief Minister and JDU (Janata Dal United) leader Nitish Kumar, in a major u-turn, joined NDA months before the elections. His constituency is yet to be announced.

Ajit Pawar

Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is set to contest four seats in Maharashtra in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls 2024. But from where Pawar will contest the election is not yet clear.

Chirag Paswan

Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti (Ram Vilas) Party has finalised seat-sharing with the BJP in the state of Bihar and will soon release the list of candidates for Lok Sabha elections.

(With inputs from agencies)