New Delhi, Apr 14 : Campaigning for first phase of Lok Sabha elections will come to an end this evening.

The polling will be held on Thursday.

In the first phase, the election will be held for 124 seats in seventeen states and union territories.

The states going to the polls in this phase include Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and some seats in Orissa in the east, Jammu and Kashmir, 16 seats in Uttar Pradesh, 13 in Bihar, 6 in Jharkhand in north India, 13 seats in Maharashtra and Chattisgarh in the west and Andhra Pradesh, Kerala Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep in the south.

The 15th Lok Sabha elections will take place in five phases on April 23, 30 and May 7 and 13 throughout the country.

The five phased polls will be held in Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh while Bihar will have four-phased elections.

Maharashtra and West Bengal will witness three phased polls while Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Punjab will have elections in two phases.

Remaining 15 states and seven union territories will have one-day polling.

This time, 714 million voters would cast their votes through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) across the country.

The counting of votes will take place on May 16.

The 543-member House will be constituted before June 2. (ANI)