Take a look at key contests as voting begins for first phase of Lok Sabha poll

The voting for the first phase of the seven-phase Lok Sabha election 2019 started at 7 AM on Thursday to choose 91 members of Lok Sabha across 18 states and 2 union territories.

A total of 7.22 crore male, 6.99 crore female and 7,764 third gender voters will exercise their franchise on Thursday to decide the fate of 1279 candidates.

Take a look at some key contests in this phase:

UTTAR PRADESH

Saharanpur

Key candidates: Raghav Lakhanpal (BJP), Imran Masood(INC), Fazlur Rehman(BSP-SP alliance)

2014 result: Raghav Lakhanpal defeated Imran Masood by a margin of 65,090 votes.

MUZAFFARNAGAR

Key candidates: Ajit Singh (RLD) and Sanjeev Baliyan (BJP).

2014 results: BJP's Sanjeev Baliyan defeated Kadir Rana of BSP by around 4 lakh votes.

BAGHPAT

Key candidates: Jayant Choudhary of RLD (representing SP-BSP alliance) and BJP’s Satyapal Singh.

2014 results: BJP's Satyapal Singh defeated Hazi Gulam Mohammad of SP by 2.09 lakh votes.

GAUTAM BUDH NAGAR

Key candidates: Dr Mahesh Sharma (BJP), Satveer Nagar (BSP-SP-RLD alliance), Arvind Kumar Singh (Congress)

2014 results: Dr Mahesh Sharma (BJP) won by 2,58,871 votes after defeating Narendra Bhati of the Samajwadi Party (SP).

GHAZIABAD

Key candidates: General (retired) VK Singh (BJP), Suresh Bansal (SP-BSP-RLD alliance), Dolly Sharma (Congress)

2014 results: General (retired) VK Singh from BJP won by a margin of 567,260 votes defeating Raj Babbar of Congress.

ANDHRA PRADESH

Vishakapatnam

Key candidates: Daggubati Purandeshwari (BJP), M Sri Bharat (TDP), M S Satyanarayana (YSRC) and V V Lakshminarayana (Jana Sena)

2014 results: K Hari Babu (BJP) defeated Y S Vijayalakshmi of YSRC with a margin of over 90,000 votes

Narasapuram

Key candidates: K Ramakrishnam Raju (YSRC), Kanumuri Bapi Raju (Congress), K Naga Babu (Jana Sena), V Sivarama Raju (TDP)

2014 result: Gokaraju Ganga Raju (BJP) win the seat with a margin of over 85,000 votes after defeating V Ravindranath of YSRC

Rajamundry

Key candidates: Maganti Rupa (TDP), M Bharat (YSRC)

2014 result: Maganti Murali Mohan (TDP) won the seat by defeating B V Chowdary of YSRC with a margin of over 1.7 lakh votes

Vijayawada

Key candidates: Kesineni Srinivas alias Nani (TDP), P Vara Prasad (YSRC)

2014 result: Kesineni Srinivas (TDP) won this seat with a margin of 74,000 votes after defeating Koneru Rajendra Prasad (YSRC)

Kadapa

Key candidates:  Y S Avinash Reddy (YSR Congress), C Adinarayana Reddy (TDP)

2014 result: YSRC leader Y S Avinash Reddy won the seat with a margin of over 1.90 lakh votes over R Srinivasa Reddy (TDP).

TELANGANA

Chevella

Key candidates: Konda Vishweshwar Reddy (Congress), G Ranjith Reddy (TRS)

2014 result: Konda Vishweshwar Reddy of TRS defeated P Karthik Reddy of Congress with over 73,000 votes.

Nizamabad

Key candidates: Kalvakuntla Kavitha (TRS), D Arvind (BJP) and Madhu Yashki Goud (Congress)

2014 result: Kavitha won the seat comfortably with a margin of over 1.67 lakh votes over Madhu Yashki Goud (Cong)

Mahabubnagar

Key candidates: D K Aruna (BJP), Manne Srinivasa Reddy (TRS) and Vamsichand Reddy (Congress)

2014 result: A P Jithender Reddy (TRS) won with a margin of 2,590 votes over S Jaipal Reddy (Congress)

UTTARAKHAND

Pauri Garhwal

Key candidates: Tirath Singh Rawat (BJP), Manish Khanduri (INC)

2014 result: Maj Gen (retd) BC Khanduri (BJP) defeated Congress’s Harak Singh Rawat by 1,84,526 votes.

Haridwar

Key candidates: Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (BJP), Ambrish Kumar (INC), Antriksh Saini (BSP)

2014 result: Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ defeated Congress’s Renuka Rawat by 1,77,822 votes.