Lok Sabha battle round 1, breaking down the contest: 102 seats, 21 states and UTs, 1,625 candidates

Phase 1 seats: Results in 2019

In 2019, the BJP alone won 40 of these 102 seats across 12 states, followed by the DMK at 24 in Tamil Nadu, and the Congress at 15 in eight states.

The candidates

There will be 1,625 candidates in the fray on Friday. Given that all seats in Tamil Nadu are going to polls, most of the candidates (950) are from the state. Among the parties, the BSP has fielded the most candidates at 86, followed by the BJP at 77, and the Congress at 56.

Candidate analysis

Of the 251 candidates with criminal cases, 137 are in Tamil Nadu, followed by 28 in Uttar Pradesh. But in terms of the share of candidates with criminal cases, UP tops the first phase list at 35%, followed by Nagaland at 33% and Meghalaya at 30%. Sikkim, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Manipur have no candidates with pending cases. In six of the states and UTs going to polls, more than one-fourth of the candidates are facing cases. The BJP has the highest number of candidates facing cases at 28 among the parties.

Party-wise candidates with criminal cases

BJP: 28 candidates (36% of all party candidates)

Congress: 19 (34%)

DMK, AIADMK: 13 each (59%, 36%)

BSP, NTK: 11 each (13%, 28%)

PMK: 6 (60%)

Of the 450 candidates who are crorepatis, again Tamil Nadu has the highest share (202), followed by Rajasthan (37) and Maharashtra (36). But in terms of share of candidates, Meghalaya has the most crorepatis at 70%, followed by Mizoram and Nagaland at 67%, and Arunachal Pradesh at 64%. The BJP has the most crorepatis at 69 or 90% of all their candidates, followed by the Congress at 49 or 88%.

Richest candidates

Nakul Nath, Congress | Contesting from Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh | Assets: Rs 717 crore

Ashok Kumar, AIADMK | Contesting from Erode, Tamil Nadu | Assets: Rs 663 crore

Dhevanathan Yadav T, BJP | Contesting from Sivaganga, Tamil Nadu | Assets: Rs 305 crore

In 2019, just 10 women won from these 102 seats. Of the 135 women candidates in Phase 1, Tamil Nadu has the highest share at 76, but they account for just 8% of the candidates in the state. In the first phase, the share of women candidates is well below one-third, which is the proportion of seats set to be reserved for women in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies through the recently passed Women’s Reservation Act, 2023. In Meghalaya, 20% of the candidates are women. In six states and UTs, there are no women candidates at all.

Youngest and oldest OLDEST

Youngest: 6 Independents aged 25, the youngest eligible age to contest in Lok Sabha polls

Oldest: Bhagwan Prasad Tiwari, an 83-year-old Independent in Madhya Pradesh’s Sidhi

The key battlegrounds

Tamil Nadu

Total seats: 39

Total electors: 6.2 crore

First-time voters: 10.9 lakh

2019 turnout: 72.49%

Tamil Nadu Lok Sabha polls

Uttarakhand

Total seats: 5

Total electors: 83.37 lakh

First-time voters: 1.29 lakh

2019 turnout: 62.36%

Uttarakhand Lok Sabha polls

Northeast

Total seats: 15 (Assam: 5; Manipur: 2; Arunachal: 2; Meghalaya: 2; Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura: 1)

Northeast Lok Sabha polls

Rajasthan

Total seats: 12 (Alwar, Bharatpur, Bikaner, Churu, Dausa, Ganganagar, Jaipur, Jaipur Rural, Jhunjhunu, Karauli-Dholpur, Nagaur, Sikar)

Rajasthan Lok Sabha polls

Other major states going to polls

Bihar: 4 seats (Aurangabad, Gaya, Nawada, Jamui), all won by the NDA (BJP 1, JD(U) 1, LJP 2) in 2019

Chhattisgarh: 1 seat (Bastar), won by the Congress

Madhya Pradesh: 6 seats (Shahdol, Sidhi, Balaghat, Jabalpur, Mandla, Chhindwara), 5 won by the BJP and 1 by the Congress

Maharashtra: 5 seats (Bhandara-Gondiya, Gadchiroli-Chimur, Nagpur, Chandrapur, Ramtek), 3 won by the BJP, 1 by the Congress and 1 by the erstwhile undivided Shiv Sena

Uttar Pradesh: 8 seats (Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Pilibhit, Bijnor, Nagina, Saharanpur, Moradabad, Rampur), 3 won by the BJP, 3 by the BSP and 2 by the SP

West Bengal: 3 seats (Alipurduars, Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri), all won by the BJP

5 contests to watch out for

Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh: Sitting MP Nakul Nath, Congress vs Vivek ‘Bunty’ Sahu, BJP | 2019 winner: Congress

Nagpur, Maharashtra: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, BJP vs MLA Vikas Thakre, Congress | 2019 winner: BJP

Chennai South, Tamil Nadu: Former Telangana governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, BJP vs former MP J Jayavardhan, AIADMK vs sitting MP Thamizhachi Thangapandian, DMK | 2019 winner: DMK

Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu: BJP state president K Annamalai, BJP vs Singai G Ramachandran, AIADMK vs former Coimbatore mayor Ganapathi P Rajkumar, DMK | 2019 winner: CPI(M)

Jorhat, Assam: Sitting Kaliabor MP Gaurav Gogoi, Congress vs sitting Jorhat MP Topon Gogoi, BJP | 2019 winner: BJP