Key battles across states as 88 seats go to polls tomorrow in second phase of Lok Sabha election

New Delhi: India will go for the second phase of Lok Sabha elections tomorrow in a high-stakes battle across 13 states and union territories with the campaign marked by sharp jibes by the leaders of BJP as also by Congress and other opposition parties.

The second phase has 88 Lok Sabha constituencies including all 20 seats in Kerala, 14 in Karnataka, 13 in Rajasthan, eight in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, five each in Assam and Bihar, six in Madhya Pradesh, three each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal and one each in Tripura, Manipur and Jammu and Kashmir.

Voting will begin at 7 am tomorrow and will conclude at 6 pm. The Lok Sabha election is being held in seven phases till June 1 and votes will be counted June 4.

The second phase of polling was to be held on 89 seats but it has been deferred to May 7 in Betul in Madhya Pradesh due to death of BSP candidate.

Several opposition parties have come together to form INDIA bloc to put up common candidates against the BJP.

Interesting battles are lined up in the second phase of Lok Sabha polls and some prominent personalities are also in the fray. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is re-contesting from Wayanad. In Thiruvananthapuram, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor is seeking fourth successive term. Battles in Rajasthan in the second phase of polls include two union ministers, a former Assembly Speaker and sons of two former chief ministers.

Actor-turned-politician Hema Malini is again in the fray from Mathura. Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel is contesting from Rajnandgaon, DK Suresh from Bangalore Rural, and Tejasvi Surya from Bangalore South.

The first phase of voting for the seven-phased Lok Sabha election, the world’s largest electoral exercise, was held on April 19 on 102 constituencies across 21 states and UTs. According to the Election Commission, the voter turnout was registered was over 62 per cent. The third phase election will be held on May 7.

The states and seats going to the polls tomorrow are:

Assam (five of total 14 seats) – Karimganj, Silchar, Mangaldoi, Nawgong, Kaliabor

Bihar (five out of total 40 seats) – Kishanganj, Katihar, Purnia, Bhagalpur, Banka

Chhattisgarh (three out of total 11 seats) – Rajnandgaon, Mahasamund, Kanker

Jammu and Kashmir – Jammu

Karnataka (14 of total 28 seats) – Udupi Chikamagalur, Hassan, Dakshina Kannada, Chitradurga, Tumkur, Mandya, Mysore, Chamarajanagar, Bangalore Rural, Bangalore North, Bangalore Central, Bangalore South, Chikballapur, Kolar.

Kerala (all 20 seats) – Kasaragod, Kannur, Vatakara, Wayanad, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Ponnani, Palakkad, Alathur, Thrissur, Chalakudy, Ernakulam, Idukki, Kottayam, Alappuzha, Mavelikkara, Pathanamthitta, Kollam, Attingal, Thiruvananthapuram

Madhya Pradesh (six of 29 seats) – Tikamgarh, Damoh, Khajuraho, Satna, Rewa, Hoshangabad, Betul

Maharashtra (8 of 48 seats) – Buldhana, Akola, Amravati (SC), Wardha, Yavatmal-Washim, Hingoli, Nanded, Parbhani

Manipur – Outer Manipur)

Rajasthan (13 out of total 25 seats) Tonk-Sawai Madhopur, Ajmer, Pali, Jodhpur, Barmer, Jalore, Udaipur, Banswara, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand, Bhilwara, Kota, Jhalawar-Baran

Tripura – Tripura East

Uttar Pradesh (8 out of total 80 seats) – Amroha, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar, Aligarh, Mathura, Bulandshahr

West Bengal (3 out of total 42 seats) – Darjeeling, Raiganj, Balurghat

An estimated 16 crore voters including 8.08 male, 7.8 crore female voters and 5,929 third gender electors are eligible to vote in the second phase of the Lok Sabha polls, according to the Election Commission.

Key candidates and constituencies in Phase 2

Of the 20 constituencies in Kerala going to polls on Friday, two seats -Alathur and Mavelikara- are reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates.

1. Wayanad: Congress leader and sitting MP Rahul Gandhi is recontesting against Annie Raja of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). Both of them are part of the national INDIA alliance but are rivals in Kerala. Congress has been winning in Wayanad since 2009 general elections. BJP, which is yet to open its account in the state, has fielded its state president K Surendran in the constituency.
2. Thiruvananthapuram: Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor won this seat in the 2009, 2014 and 2019 general elections. The former UN diplomat is contesting against BJP leader and Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar and CPI’s Pannyan Raveendran.
3. Kollam: Sitting MP NK Premachandran (RSP) is pitted against two actor-turned-politicians – Mukesh, an MLA of CPI-M, and G Krishnakumar (BJP).
4. Thrissur: K Muraleedharan of Congress is pitted against VS Sunil Kumar of CPI and actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi of BJP
5. Attingal: Sitting MP Adoor Prakash of Congress is contesting against V Joy of CPM and V Muraleedharan of BJP.
6. Pathanamthitta: Congress’ Anto Antony is competing against Thomas Issac from the CPI(M) and Anil K Antony of the BJP.
7. Kasaragod: BJP candidate ML Ashwini is pitted against Congress’ Rajmohan Unnithan, who is the sitting MP in the constituency, and CPI (M)’s MV Balakrishnan.
8. Kannur: Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief K Sudhakaran is contesting against CPI(M)’s MV Jayarajan and NDA candidate C Raghunath, who had joined the BJP from Congress.
9. Vadakara: Congress leader Shafi Parambil, who is UDF candidate, is contesting against LDF candidate KK Shailaja of the CPI(M) and Praphul Krishnan (BJP).
10. Kozhikode: Congress’ MK Raghavan, the UDF candidate, is running against CPI(M)’s Elamaram Kareemm, the LDF candidate, and BJP’s MT Ramesh.
11. Malappuram: ET Mohammed Basheer of the IUML is the UDF candidate against CPI(M)’s VA Vaseef, the LDF candidate, and Abdul Salam from Bharatiya Janata Party.
12. Ponnani: Nivedida Subramanian of BJP is facing Abdussamad Samadani of IUML and KS Hamza of the CPI (M).
13. Palakkad: C Krishnakumar from Bharatiya Janata Party is contesting against A Vijayaraghavan of Communist Party Of India (Marxist), and sitting MP VK Sreekandan from Congress
14. Alathur: TN Sarasu of the BJP is contesting Ramya Haridas of Congress and K Radhakrishnan of CPI(M)
15. Chalakudy: Benny Behanan of Congress is the UDF candidate and is contesting against CPI(M)’s C Raveendranath and KA Unnikrishnan from Bharath Dharma Jana Sena
16. Ernakulam: Hibi Eden of UDF is facing CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front KJ Shine and KS Radhakrishnan of the BJP.
17. Idukki: UDF’s Dean Kuriakose of the Congress is up against Sangeetha Viswanath from Bharath Dharma Jana Sena and Joice George from Communist Party Of India (marxist)
18. Kottayam: Thushar Vellappalli from Bharath Dharma Jana Sena is contesting against K Francis George of Kerala Congress and Thomas Chazhikadan of Kerala Congress (M).
19. Alappuzha: KC Venugopal from Congress, Shobha Surendran from Bharatiya Janata Party and AM Ariff from Communist Party of India (Marxist) are in the fray. Ariff is the sitting MP from the seat.
20. Mavelikkara: UDF’s Kodikkunnil Suresh is pitted against CPI(M)’s Arun kumar CA and and Baiju Kalasala of BDJS.

In Karnataka , polling will be held on 14 seats and bypoll will be held in Surpur (Shorapur) constituency located in Yadgir district.

Some of the key seats include:

1.Mandya: Former Chief Minister and JD(S)’ HD Kumaraswamy is pitted against Congress’s Venkataramane Gowda (Star Chandru).

2. Mysuru: BJP’s Yaduveer Wadiyar is contested against Congress’s M Lakshman.
3. Bengaluru Rural: Sitting MP Congress’ DK Suresh is pitted against BJP’s Cholenahalli Nanjappa Manjunath, son-in-law of former prime minister HD Deve Gowda.
4. Bengaluru North: BJP’s Shobha Karandlaje is contesting against Congress’ MV Rajeev Gowda
5. Bengaluru Central: BJP’s PC Mohan is contesting against Congress’ Mansoor Ali Khan.
6. Bengaluru South: Sitting MP Tejasvi Surva is pitted against Congress candidate Sowmya Reddy.

In Assam , five out of total 14 seats are headed for polls on April 26. Some of the key seats include:

1. Nagaon: Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi is contesting against BJP’s Suresh Bora and AIUDF’s Aminul Islam
2. Darrang-Udalguri: BJP MP Dilip Saikia is in the fray against Congress candidate Madhab Rajbongshi
3. Karimganj: BJP MP Kripanath Mallah is contesting Congress nominee Hafez Ahmed Choudhury and AIUDF’s Sahabul Islam Choudhury.
4. Silchar: Parimal Suklabaidya of BJP is pitted against Congress’ Surjya Kanta Sarkar.
5. Kaziranga (Kaliabor): Roselina Tirkey of the Congress is contesting against Kamakhya Prasad Tasa of the BJP

In Bihar , five of total 40 seats will go in for polls on April 26.

1. Purnia: JD(U)’s Santosh Kushwaha is up against RJD’s Bima Bharti and independent candidate Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav.
2. Kishanganj: Congress’s Mohammed Jawed is contesting against JD(U)’s Mujahid Alam and AIMIM candidate Akhtarul Iman
3. Bhagalpur: JD(U)’s Ajay Kumar Mandal is in the fray against Congress’ Ajeet Sharma
4. Banka: JD(U)’s Giridhari Yadav is pitted against RJD’s Jay Prakash Yadav
5. Katihar: Sitting MP, JD(U)’s Dulal Chand Goswami, is facing Congress’s Tariq Anwar. Bahujan Samaj Party, Bharat Jodo Janata Party, People’s Party of India, and National Janasambhavna Party candidates are also in the fray.

In Chhattisgarh , voting will be held in three seats out of a total 11 seats

1. Rajnandgaon: Former chief minister and Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel is up against Santosh Pandey of the BJP.
2. Mahasamund: Tamradhwaj Sahu of the Congress is contesting Roop Kumari Chaudhary of the BJP
3. Kanker: BJP’s Bhojraj Nag is contesting Congress’s Biresh Thakur.

In Madhya Pradesh , six out of total 29 seats will face polls on April 26. Key constitutes include

1. Tikamgarh: BJP’s Virendra Kumar Khatik is looking for his fourth win and is contesting against Congress’s Pankaj Ahirwar in this reserved seat.
2. Khajuraho: Congress is supporting All India Forward Block (AIFB) candidate RB Prajapati, who is contesting against Vishnu Datt Sharma of BJP.
3. Damoh: Congress’ Tarbar Singh Lodhi is contesting against BJP’s Rahul Singh Lodhi.

In Maharashtra , eight of the 48 seats are going to the polls in the second phase.

1. Nanded: Sitting BJP MP Prataprao Chikhalikar Govindrao is seeking another term and is contesting against Congress’ Vasant Balvantrao Chavan Patil and Avinash Bosikar of the Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi (VBA).
2. Hingoli: Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Ashtikar Patil Nagesh Bapurao is contesting against Shiv Sena nominee Baburao Kadam Kohalikar and VBA’s BD Chavan
3. Parbhani: Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate and incumbent MP Sanjay alias Bandu Jadhav, is contesting against Mahayuti’s Rashtriya Samaj Paksha president Mahadev Jankar and VBA’s Panjabrao Dakh
4. Amravati: Navneet Rana is pitted against Congress candidate Balwant Baswant Wankhede
5. Akola: Anup Dhotre of the BJP is fighting against Abhay Kashinath Patil of Congress and VBA’s Prakash Ambedkar
6. Yavatmal-Washim: Rajshri Hemant Patil of the ruling Shiv Sena is contesting against Shiv Sena Uddhav Thackeray’s Sanjay Uttamrao Deshmukh
7. Buldhana: Jadhav Prataprao Ganpatrao of the Shiv Sena is contesting against Vasat Rajaram Magar from Vanchit Bahujan Agadi.
8. Wardha: BJP candidate Ramdas Chandrabhan Tadas is contesting against Amar Sharadrao Kale of the NCP-SP.

In Rajasthan , the Lok Sabha election will be completed on April 26 with voting on 13 remaining seats. Key constituencies include

1. Kota: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who is the BJP candidate, is contesting against Congress candidate Prahlad Gunjal

2.Tonk-Sawai Madhopur: Harish Chadra Meena of BJP is pitted against Sukhbir Singh Jaunapuria of the Congress

3. Banswara: BJP’s Mahendra Jeet Malviya is facing BAP’s Rajkumar Roat and Congress’s Arvind Damor in this tribal-dominated seat. Congress has extended support to Roat but Damor did not withdraw from the contest.
4. Barmer: Union minister Kailash Choudhary is facing independent candidate Ravindra Bhati and Congress’ Umeda Ram Beniwal.
5. Jodhpur: Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat is seeking re-election and is pitted against Congress’s Karan Singh Uchiyarda
6. Ajmer: BJP’s Bhagirath Chaudhary is taking on Congress’ Ram Chandra Choudhary
7. Jalore: Former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s son Vaibhav Gehlot is contesting against BJP’s Lumbaram
8. Jhalawar-Baran: Sitting MP Dushyant Singh is contesting against Congress candidate Urmila Jain ‘Bhaya’
9. Bhilwara: Former Rajasthan Assembly speaker CP Joshi, who is Congress candidate, is contesting against BJP’s Damodar Agarwal
10. Chittorgarh: BJP’s Chandra Prakash Joshi is contesting against Congress’ Udailal Anjana

In Uttar Pradesh , voters will elect their representatives from eight seats on Friday.

Some of the key seats are:

1. Amroha: Danish Ali of Congress is pitted against Mujahid Hussain of BSP and BJP’s Kanwar Singh Tanwar
2. Meerut: ‘Ramayan’ actor Arun Govil of the BJP is contesting against Sunita Verma of Samajwadi Party and Devvrat Kumar Tyagi of the BSP
3. Mathura: Hema Malini of BJP faces OBC leader Mukesh Dhangar of the Congress and Chaudhary Suresh Singh of the BSP.
4. Ghaziabad: Nandkishore Pundhir of BSP is contesting against Dolly Sharma of Congress and Atul Garg of the BJP

Three seats in North of West Bengal , of the total 42 seats in the state, will to to the polls on April 26.

1. Darjeeling: BJP’s Raju Bista is contesting against Congress’ Munish Tamang, who has the support of local Hamro Party. Trinamool Congress has fielded former bureaucrat Gopal Lama.
2. Balurghat: State BJP president and sitting MP Sukanta Majumdar is contesting Trinamool Congress leader Biplab Mitra
3. Raiganj: Trinamool Congress’ Krishna Kalyani is pitted against BJP’s Kartick Pal and Congress nominee Ali Imran Ramz.

In Jammu Lok Sabha constituency, sitting BJP MP Jugal Kishore is contesting against Congress candidate Raman Bhalla.

In East Tripura , BJP candidate Kriti Devi Debbarman is facing INDIA bloc nominee Rajendra Reang.

Voting will be held in Outer Manipur’s 13 assembly segments on April 26.

In the first phase, 15 assembly segments of Outer Manipur along with 32 assembly segments of Inner Manipur had gone to the polls on April 19.