New Delhi: Five Union ministers are among the heavyweights whose fates will be sealed in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on Thursday.
The central leaders include Nitin Gadkari (Nagpur), Kiren Rijuju (Arunachal West), Gen (retd) V.K. Singh (Ghaziabad), Mahesh Sharma (Gautam Buddh Nagar), Hansraj Ahir (Chandrapur in Maharashtra) and Satyapal Singh (Baghpat).
Notable among the others who are in the fray are former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat (Congress), Ajit Singh (RLD), Jayant Chaudhary (RLD), Chirag Paswan (LJP), former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi (HAMS), Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM) and Renuka Chowdary (Congress).
Altogether, 91 constituencies across 18 states and two Union Territories are voting in the first phase. States and Union Territories where voting is taking place include Andhra Pradesh (25 constituencies), Arunachal Pradesh (2), Assam (5), Bihar (4), Chhattisgarh (1), Jammu and Kashmir (2), Maharashtra (7), Manipur (1), Meghalaya (2), Mizoram (1), Nagaland (1), Odisha (4), Sikkim (1), Telangana (17), Tripura (1), Uttar Pradesh (8), Uttarakhand (5), West Bengal (2), Andaman (1) and Lakshadweep (1).
Voting is simultaneously taking place to state Assemblies in Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim.
