The National People’s Party (NPP) candidate from Tura, Agatha Sangma, cast her vote on Friday at a polling station in Walbakgre in the first phase of the 2024 general election.

 She said that people will keep development and peace in their minds while casting their votes.

 “I am hopeful that the voter turnout in Meghalaya will be good. The number of people gathered here shows that they want to elect their political representative according to their choice,” Agatha Sangma told ANI while standing at the queue at the polling station.

 “It is a trend in Garo Hills that women’s participation is higher in comparison with men. People will keep development and peace in their minds while casting their votes,” she added.

Meghalaya’s two Lok Sabha constituencies–Shillong and Tura–are going to the polls today.

 In Tura, Agatha Sangma is pitted against Saleng A. Sangma of the Indian National Congress and Zenith Sangma of the All India Trinamool Congress.

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma reached a polling station in Tura, West Garo Hills, on Friday to cast his vote. A long queue of people was also seen waiting outside the Tura polling station in West Garo Hills to cast their votes.

 While speaking to media, the Meghalaya CM said, “When I reached the polling station around 6:30 AM, there were around 200 people present at the polling station, which is a good message that people are participating in the voting process enthusiastically…A very good voter turnout can be seen in this election.”

 Meghalaya is set to vote for its two Lok Sabha seats, Shillong and Tura, in the first phase of polling on April 19.

 The state has a total of 22.27 lakh voters, with female voters outnumbering males, totaling 11.27 lakh compared to 11 lakh male voters.

 Candidates vying for the Shillong (ST) seat include Vincent Pala from the Indian National Congress, the incumbent MP, Robertjune Kharjahrin from the United Democratic Party (UDP), and Ricky AJ Syngkon from the Voter’s Party of India (VPP).

 Key political parties and alliances in Meghalaya include the INDIA bloc represented by the Indian National Congress, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), and the Regional Democratic Alliance. Meghalaya will witness a multi-cornered contest for its two Lok Sabha seats, with 10 candidates vying for victory. The BJP has chosen not to contest to keep the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) votes unified.

 The world’s largest democratic exercise kicked off in the country today, with the first phase of a marathon exercise stretching out over seven phases to elect 543 members of the 18th Lok Sabha.

 This Lok Sabha election, to be conducted from April 19 to June 1, is set to be the second longest polling exercise in the country’s electoral history after the first general election, which was held over five months between September 1951 and February 1952.

 The last general elections in 2019 were also held in seven phases.

 A total of 102 constituencies across 21 states and Union Territories will vote in the first phase today. Vote counting will be done on June 4.  Those voting in the first phase include seats in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhatisgarh, 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.