The first phase of voting for the 18th Lok Sabha elections began today across 21 states and Union Territories. As of 11 AM, over 24.5% of voters had cast their ballots across these regions. Voting is taking place in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshadweep, and Puducherry.

More than 16.63 crore voters, comprising over 8 crore men and 8 crore women, are expected to vote across nearly 2 lakh polling stations. Key political figures in this phase of the elections include Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Bhupendra Yadav, Kiren Rijiju, Jitendra Singh, Arjun Ram Meghwal, and Sarbananda Sonowal. Other notable candidates include Congress's Gaurav Gogoi, DMK's Kanimozhi, and BJP's Tamil Nadu chief K Annamalai. While the BJP-led NDA seeks a stronger majority, the opposition INDIA bloc is aiming for a comeback. In the 2019 elections, the UPA won 45 out of the 102 seats up for grabs in today's phase, while the NDA secured 41. Six of these constituencies have been redrawn as part of the delimitation process.The general elections, which will elect 543 members of the 18th Lok Sabha, will take place across seven phases from April 19 to June 1. The results will be announced on June 4.

Here are the voting percentages of states as of 11 AM: - Andaman and Nicobar Islands: 21.82% - Arunachal Pradesh: 19.34% - Assam: 27.22% - Bihar: 20.42% - Chhattisgarh: 28.12% - Jammu and Kashmir: 22.6% - Lakshadweep: 16.33% - Madhya Pradesh: 30.46% - Maharashtra: 19.17% - Manipur: 28.54% - Meghalaya: 33.12% - Mizoram: 27% - Nagaland: 23.28% - Puducherry: 28.1% - Rajasthan: 22.51% - Sikkim: 21.2% - Tamil Nadu: 23.72% - Tripura: 34.54% - Uttar Pradesh: 25.2% - Uttarakhand: 24.83% - West Bengal: 33.56%

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