Election campaign concludes today ahead of first phase voting in 21 states, including Tamil Nadu

NEW DELHI: The public campaign in 102 Lok Sabha constituencies across 21 states including Tamil Nadu, where the first phase of voting will take place on April 19, will conclude on Wednesday. Elections for the 60-member Arunachal Pradesh Assembly and the 32-member Sikkim Assembly are also scheduled for April 19.

BJP candidates include Tamizhisai Soundararajan (Chennai South), K. Annamalai (Coimbatore), Nitin Gadkari (Nagpur), Sarbananda Sonowal (Dibrugarh), Kiren Rijiju (Arunachal West), Biplav Kumar Deb (Tripura West), Bhupendra Yadav (Alwar), Congress's Gaurav Gogoi (Jorhat), Karti Chidambaram (Sivaganga), Kanimozhi (Tuticorin) and CPM's Amra Ram (Sikar), who will be seeking the mandate on the 19th.

The voting patterns in the initial phase often influence subsequent stages. Hence, in the first phase, the BJP is deploying star campaigners like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee to secure votes.

States (number of seats) going to polls on April 19

Tamil Nadu (39), Rajasthan (12), Uttar Pradesh (8), Madhya Pradesh (6), Uttarakhand, Assam, Maharashtra (5 each), Bihar (4), West Bengal (3), Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya (2 each), Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshadweep, Puducherry and Andaman and Nicobar Islands (one seat each).