The second phase of the Lok Sabha elections will see 89 seats across 13 states going to polls. All eyes will be on the high-profile seats of Wayanad and Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala as well as Mathura and Meerut in Uttar Pradesh.
BJP's Hema Malini is seeking a third term from Mathura, while Rahul Gandhi is eyeing a second from Wayanad. Shashi Tharoor is in the fray from Thiruvananthapuram (PTI)
New Delhi,UPDATED: Apr 26, 2024 05:26 IST
Voting is set to begin in the second phase of the Lok Sabha polls for 89 seats across 13 states, with several prominent candidates like Rahul Gandhi, Shashi Tharoor and Hema Malini making it a high-stakes round.
All 20 seats in Kerala and 14 of the 28 seats in Karnataka will go to polls in this phase. Apart from these southern states, 13 seats in Rajasthan, eight seats each in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, seven seats in Madhya Pradesh, five seats each in Assam and Bihar, three seats each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, and one seat each in Manipur, Tripura and Jammu and Kashmir will see polling.
The second phase saw high-voltage campaigns by the BJP and the opposition, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech on the Congress's plans to "redistribute wealth" being the highlight.
PHASE 2 LOK SABHA ELECTIONS: LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the NDA had won 65 of these seats. While the BJP had won 53 seats, its allies bagged 12. On the other hand, the INDIA bloc had won 23 of the 89 seats in the last general election.
There are a total of 1,210 candidates in the fray in this phase. The BSP has fielded the most candidates in this phase at 74, followed by the BJP at 69 and the Congress at 68.
All eyes will be on Kerala's Wayanad, where Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is eyeing a second term. He is up against CPI's Annie Raja and BJP Kerala chief K Surendran. In the 2019 polls, Gandhi won the seat by more than seven lakh votes even though he lost from Amethi, his family stronghold.
Another high-stakes battle in Kerala is between senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor and Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar in Thiruvananthapuram. Tharoor will be hoping to retain the seat for the fourth time.
In Uttar Prdaesh, the high-profile seats of Mathura and Meerut are going to polls. Hema Malini will seek a hat-trick from Mathura while Meerut will see BJP's Arun Govil, famous for portraying Lord Ram's character in Ramayan TV series, making his electoral debut. Voting is also being held in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad.
Rajasthan will see Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat seeking a hat-trick of wins from Kota and Jodhpur constituencies, respectively.
The second phase is important for Congress veterans Bhupesh Baghel and KC Venugopal. Baghel, the former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister, is in the fray from Rajnandgaon, a BJP bastion. KC Venugopal is contesting from Kerala's Alappuzha, making an electoral return to his former constituency after 10 years.
West Bengal will see the high-profile Darjeeling seat, Balurghat and Raiganj going to polls. The polls will decide the fate of state BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar, who is seeking re-election from the Balurghat seat.
The phase saw high-decibel attacks by PM Modi on the Congress's manifesto, alleging that the party was planning to give people's hard-earned money to "those who have more children". They "won't even spare your mangalsutra", he had said.
The Congress approached the Election Commission over PM Modi's remarks, following which the poll body issued a notice to the BJP president and sought his response.
Published By:
Abhishek De
Published On:
Apr 26, 2024
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