Lok Sabha elections: Key candidates in phase 1 polls

The election for the Nagpur Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra is one of the most anticipated in the nation because Union minister Nitin Gadkari who has a large following of supporters because of his development efforts and his preference for blunt speaking. He defeated Vilas Muttemwar, the seven-time MP, in 2014 with a margin of 2.84 lakh votes, and he won the seat again in 2019 with a margin of 2.16 lakh votes against Nana Patole, the head of the Maharashtra Congress.

Karti Chidambaram, the son of former Union Minister P Chidambaram, is running for a third term from Sivaganga, a long-standing Congress bastion. The election contest in Sivaganga will feature Devanathan Yadav of the BJP, Karti Chidambaram of the Congress, and A Xavier of the AIADMK.

In the 2019 General Assembly Elections, Erode witnessed a fiercely contested battle. This constituency witnessed a 72.65% voter turnout in the year 2019.

A day after resigning as the Telangana governor, Tamilisai Soundararajan in March joined BJP. Tamilisai had unsuccessfully contested the assembly elections in Velachery and Virugambakkam in 2011 and 2016 and general elections in 2019. In the 2019 LS polls, Tamilisai lost to DMK leader Kanimozhi Karunanidhi in Tuticorin.

Nakul Nath, the son of the former chief minister, is running for the seat in Chhindwara, which is thought to be Kamal Nath's stronghold. In the previous state general elections in 2019, the grand old party was only able to gain one seat.

BJP chose Prasada over sitting Pilibhit MP Varun Gandhi. The constituency has been represented by Varun Gandhi or his mother Maneka Gandhi since 1996. The minister’s campaign appears focused on the work done by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led govt in the last 10 years and his vision for a ‘Viksit Bharat’.

In his election affidavit, senior DMK leader Maran submitted that he has Rs 7cr of movable assets which includes bank deposits and equity shares with private firms. The value of his immovable assets, which had been inherited, stood at Rs 59,000. He said both him and his wife owe no dues to government banks and had nil liabilities.

Nabam Tuki, the former chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh, resigned from his position as state Congress president in advance of the Lok Sabha and assembly elections. After three party MLAs defected to the BJP in March, Tuki submitted his resignation to the All India Congress Committee, he said.

Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, a DMK MP, was one of the people who showed up for an interview with chief minister M K Stalin at Anna Arivalayam in March. According to DMK sources, 45 other candidates had also submitted applications requesting tickets for Kanimozhi to run from Tuticorin in addition to Kanimozhi.