New Delhi, March 20 (IANS): The nomination process for the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections scheduled on April 19 begins on Wednesday.

In the first phase, polling will be held in 102 Lok Sabha seats spread over 17 states and four union territories.

The last day of filing nomination for the first phase is March 27. The scrutiny of nomination papers will be done on March 28 and the last date for withdrawal of candidature is March 30. The counting of votes will take place on June 4, the Election Commission has said.

The first phase will be held in 39 seats of Tamil Nadu, 12 seats of Rajasthan, eight seats of Uttar Pradesh, six seats of Madhya Pradesh, five seats each in Uttarakhand, Assam and Maharashtra, four seats of Bihar, three seats of West Bengal, two seats each in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya and one seat each in Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, J&K, Lakshadweep and Puducherry.

Eight parliamentary constituencies in Uttar Pradesh --- Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Nagina (SC), Moradabad, Rampur and Pilibhit -- will vote in the first phase.