Moderate to brisk polling is being reported in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections on Friday. Eighty-eight Parliamentary Constituencies spread over 12 States and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir are being covered in this phase. These include, twenty seats in Kerala, 14 in Karnataka, 13 in Rajasthan, eight each in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, six in Madhya Pradesh, five each in Assam and Bihar, three seats each in West Bengal and Chhattisgarh and one seat each in Manipur, Tripura and Jammu and Kashmir.
The polling for the Betul (ST) Parliamentary Constituency of Madhya Pradesh which was scheduled in the second phase will now be held in the third phase due to the demise of the BSP candidate.
Voting started in most of the constituencies at 7 this morning and will conclude at 6 in the evening. However, the polling has ended in North Eastern States and Left-Wing Extremism-affected areas.
Akashvani correspondents from different parts of the country report that long queues of voters were witnessed at various polling booths. Special enthusiasm is seen among youth and women voters.
Some of the prominent candidates whose political fate are being sealed in the EVMs today include Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Tejasvi Surya, Hema Malini, Arun Govil and Om Birla from BJP. Rahul Gandhi, Shashi Tharoor, DK Suresh from Congress and former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy of JDS.
A total of 1,202 candidates along with four candidates from the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha constituency are in the fray in this phase.
Over 16 lakh Polling officials have been deployed across 1.67 lakh polling stations. Nearly 16 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the second phase. Our correspondent reports that nearly 35 lakh first-time voters are registered to cast their votes in this phase.
Disclaimer: This press release is sourced from News On AIR, Prasar Bharti and Press Information Bureau India (PIB).
