Polling for the second of the seven phases of the Lok Sabha elections is scheduled to take place on Friday (April 26). As many as 88 constituencies across 13 states and Union Territories will vote to decide the fate of over 1,200 candidates.
India is holding the biggest elections in the world. By the end of Friday, voting will conclude in all Lok Sabha seats in Kerala, Rajasthan, Manipur and Tripura. Voting has already been completed in all seats of Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Nagaland, Puducherry, Sikkim and Lakshadweep after the first phase on 19 april.
As voters head to the polling booths amid rising temperatures, let’s take a look at the key elections to watch in the second phase.
Wayanad of Kerala
All 20 Lok Sabha constituencies in Kerala will go to polls on Friday. The state is set to host two high-profile election battles, one in Wayanad and the other in Thiruvananthapuram.
Congress’ Rahul Gandhi is hoping to get elected for the second time from Wayanad. He faces competition from Annie Raja of the Communist Party of India (CPI). Both the Congress and the CPI are part of the INDIA opposition bloc that is challenging the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has given ticket to its state unit chief K Surendran, which has made it a three-way fight in Wayanad.
Gandhi, who lost the Congress bastion of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh in 2019 to BJP’s Smriti Irani, had won the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat by a record margin of 4,31,770 votes.
It remains to be seen whether Wayanad will once again prove to be the safe seat of the Congress.
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor is contesting against Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar of the BJP from Thiruvananthapuram.
As the Grand Old Party leader seeks to clinch his seat for a fourth consecutive term, his rival hopes to unseat him and become a giant killer.
The CPI has fielded Pannian Ravindran from Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat. The BJP emerged second in the last two Lok Sabha polls, raising its hopes of making a breakthrough in Kerala this time.
Mandya of Karnataka
Fourteen of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the southern state will be voted on on Friday.
Mandya will witness a clash between former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy of the BJP ally Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S) and Venkataramane Gowda of the Congress, also known as Star Chandru.
Independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh had won the seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, defeating JD(S)’s Nikhil Kumaraswamy.
Ambareesh, who joined the BJP in April this year, is not contesting this time.
Mathura of Uttar Pradesh
Eight of Uttar Pradesh’s 80 Lok Sabha seats are in the fray in the second phase.
Bollywood star Hema Malini is seeking re-election to the Mathura Lok Sabha seat on a BJP ticket. She has won the Saffron party constituency since 2014.
As she seeks a third consecutive term, questions have been raised about her absence from the constituency and her presence only during elections. The Congress fielded Mukesh Dhangar, INDIA bloc candidate from Mathura.
Chaudhary Suresh Singh of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is also a challenger for this high-profile seat.
Rajasthan Kota
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is contesting again from Kota Lok Sabha constituency on a BJP ticket. However, the entry of Prahlad Gunjal made the competition difficult for Birla.
Gunjal, a Gujjar strongman who was a two-time BJP MP, joined the Congress in March. According to The Hinduthe battle between the two turned into a “clash of egos”.
Rajnandgaon of Chhattisgarh
Former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel is testing his fortunes from the Rajnandgaon seat, where he will take on sitting BJP MP Santosh Pandey.
The Congress’s choice to field the former CM, who hails from Patan, seems strategic as Rajnandgaon is a largely rural seat where the party could try to build on the former government’s agricultural welfare schemes Baghel to woo voters, says report. Money control report.
Rajnandgaon poses an attractive Lok Sabha battle as the BJP has never lost its seat since the state was created in 2000, the report added.
Meerut of Uttar Pradesh
The BJP is banking on actor Arun Govil, who played Lord Ram in the hit TV series. Ramayan, to win the Meerut Lok Sabha seat. The saffron party’s decision to replace three-time MP Rajendra Agarwal has not gone down well with its base.
The Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance fielded a Dalit candidate, Sunita Verma, while the BSP gave ticket to Devvrat Kumar Tyagi.
In 2019, the BJP had won the seat by a slim margin of 5,000 votes against SP-BSP-RLD (Rashtriya Lok Dal) alliance candidate Yaqoob Qureshi.
Purnia of Bihar
Purnia is among the five Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar voting in the second phase. Sitting MP Santosh Kushwaha of the Janata Dal (United), an ally of the BJP, is seeking a third term.
He is opposed to three-time MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav who is this time an independent candidate.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has given ticket to JD(U) rebel Bima Bharati. Yadav is likely to hurt the RJD’s votes, making it difficult for the party to oust the JD(U).
Other seats
Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the royal descendant of Mysore, is the BJP candidate for the key Karnataka seat. He is contesting against Congress’ M Lakshman, an engineer-turned-politician.
BJP candidate Kailash Choudhary is fighting to retain the post. Barmer Lok Sabha seat in Rajasthan. Umeda Ram Beniwal of the Congress is challenging him. Ravindra Singh Bhati, a Rajput rebel who is fighting as an independent, has made Barmer’s contest interesting.
BJP’s Tejasvi Surya seeks re-election Bangalore South in Karnataka. The Congress is trying to capture the seat which is a BJP stronghold by fielding Sowmya Reddy.
Navneet Kaur Rana is contesting on a BJP ticket from Maharashtra Amravati. She is facing Congress’ Balwant Basawant Wankhede and BSP’s Sanjay Gadge.
With the contribution of agencies
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