Voting for the second phase of Lok Sabha elections began this morning in 88 Parliamentary Constituencies spread over 12 States and Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir. Voting is taking place in twenty seats of Kerala, 14 seats of Karnataka, 13 seats of Rajasthan, 8 seats each of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, 6 seats of Madhya Pradesh, 5 seats each in Assam and Bihar, 3 seats each of West Bengal and Chhattisgarh and 1 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.
Some of the prominent candidates whose political fate will be sealed in the EVMs today are Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad in Kerala, CPl’s Annie Raja also contesting from Wayanad, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar from Thiruvananthapuram, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor also from Thiruvananthapuram, Tejasvi Surya of BJP from Bengaluru South, Hema Malini of BJP from Mathura. Other key candidates are BJP’s Arun Govil from Meerut, ex-Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy from Mandya and Pappu Yadav from Purnea.
A total of 1,202 candidates along with four candidates from the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha constituency are in the fray in this phase. Voting began at 7 AM and will end at 6 PM. Polling time has been extended till 6 PM in many polling stations in Banka, Madhepura, Khagaria and Munger constituencies in Bihar to facilitate voters in hot weather conditions.
Over 16 lakh Polling officials will welcome over 15.88 crore voters across 1.67 lakh polling stations. Akashvani correspondent reports that 34.8 lakh first time voters are registered to cast their votes in this phase. Election Commission has called upon voters to turnout in greater numbers at polling stations and vote with responsibility and pride.
Disclaimer: This press release is sourced from News On AIR, Prasar Bharti and Press Information Bureau India (PIB).
