Lok Sabha elections phase 1: 9 Union ministers, 2 ex-CMs & ex-governor in poll fray. Check list

The first phase of Lok Sabha elections will witness nine Union ministers, two former chief ministers and an ex-governor contesting the polls. The first of seven phases will witness polling in 102 seats across 21 states.

Voting will be held in all 39 seats of Tamil Nadu and five seats of Uttarakhand on Friday. In addition to this, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal will witness polling in all seven phases. The counting of votes will take place on June 4. 

Voting will begin at 7 AM and end at 6 PM. The Election Commission has deployed over 18 lakh polling personnel across 1.87 lakh polling stations where over 16.63 crore voters will exercise their franchise.

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Nitin Gadkari

Union minister for road and surface transport Nitin Gadkari will be contesting his third Lok Sabha election from Nagpur, the home of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) headquarter. He has been pitted against Vikas Thakre, the incumbent Congress MLA from Nagpur West constituency. In 2014, Gadkari had defeated former Union minister Vilas Muttemwar. Five years later, he trounced incumbent Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole. 

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Kiren Rijiju

Union minister Kiren Rijiju has been winning from Arunachal West since 2004. He later won from here in 2009, 2014 and 2019. A prominent BJP face from the northeast, Rijiju currently serves as minister of earth and sciences, and has also served as law minister and MoS home. He has been pitted against former chief minister Nabam Tuki of the Congress. 

Sarbananda Sonowal

When the BJP wrested Assam from Congress in 2016, Sonowal was picked as the chief minister. After Himanta Biswa Sarma took over as CM following the BJP's second straight win in 2021, Sonowal was made the Union minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and AYUSH in the Centre. This time, he is contesting from Dibrugarh, the seat he won in 2004 as an Asom Gana Parishad candidate. In this election, Sonowal is pitted against Assam Jatiya Parishad's Lurinjyoti Gogoi and Aam Aadmi Party's Manoj Dhanowar.

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Sanjeev Baliyan

Union minister Sanjeev Baliyan is pitted against Samajwadi Party's Harindra Malik and BSP candidate Dara Singh Prajapati in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar. 

Jitendra Singh

Jitendra Singh, a two-time parliamentarian and a Union minister for state in PMO, is aiming for a hat-trick in Udhampur. He is contesting against Congress leader Chaudhary Lal Singh. 

Bhupendra Yadav

Bhupendra Yadav, Union minister and Rajya Sabha member who replaced sitting MP Balak Nath, is in a contest with sitting Congress MLA Lalit Yadav, who belongs to Matsya region of Alwar district in Rajasthan and enjoys the support of the Yadav community.

Arjun Ram Meghwal

Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal is pitted against former Congress minister Govind Ram Meghwal from Bikaner parliamentary seat in Rajasthan.

L Murugan

Union minister L Murugan is contesting from Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu. The seat is represented by DMK heavyweight A Raja, who is seekinga  second term from this constituency.

Tamilisai Soundararajan

Former Telangana governor Tamilisai Soundararajan is the BJP face from Chennai South. She is contesting against DMK MP T Sumathy and AIADMK's J Jayavardhan.

Nisith Pramanik

Union minister Nisith Pramanik is contesting from Coochbehar in West Bengal, wherein he will take on Trinamool Congress candidate Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia. In 2019, he won the seat defeating TMC's Paresh Chandra Adhikary.