New Delhi: The second phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha election begins this morning with voting in 89 constituencies across 13 states and union territories, including all 20 of Kerala's seats, 14 of Karnataka's 28, and 13 of Rajasthan's 25. Karnataka's remaining 14 seats votes in the third phase - on May 7 - and the 12 from Rajasthan voted last week.
Eight seats from Uttar Pradesh - including the Mathura seat held by the BJP's Hema Malini and Meerut, where the party has fielded Ramayana lead actor Arun Govil - will vote.
READ | 8 Seats In UP To See 3-Cornered Contest In 2nd Phase Of Polls
Voting will also take place for eight seats in eastern Maharashtra, seven in Madhya Pradesh and three each in Bengal and Chhattisgarh, which will include Maoist-hit Kanker and Rajnandgaon, where the Congress has fielded former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.
Five seats in Bihar will also vote today, of which four - Banka, Bhagalpur, Katihar, and Purnia - were won by the JDU of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who dropped the INDIA bloc in January to re-align with the BJP. The fifth - Kishanganj - was won by the Congress.
In the northeast, five of Assam's nine remaining seats (the first five voted last week) will go to the polls, including the reserved seat of Silchar and the newly-created Darrang-Udalguri.
Also voting is the Tripura East seat, which was held by the Communist Party of India since 1996 and flipped by the BJP's Rebati Tripura, and the Jammu Lok Sabha seat.
2019 Lok Sabha Election Recap
Of the 88 seats in this phase, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP and its partners (including those that have since allied) won 55, including clean sweeps in Rajasthan, Bengal, Chhattisgarh, and Bihar, as well as also picking up the Tripura and Jammu seats.
The stand-out loss was Kerala, a state that has never sent a BJP leader to the Lok Sabha.
The Congress won 15 of those 20 seats, with allies India Union Muslim League, the Revolutionary Socialist Party, and the Kerala Congress (Mani) picking up four seats.
READ | Kerala Goes To Polls. Over 2.75 Crore Voters, 194 Contestants
The ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) won the final seat.
The BJP's poor showing underlined its lack of bite in the south, but it is hopeful this trend will be reversed this year, particularly since the Prime Minister has made nearly a dozen visits to Kerala and Tamil Nadu, which voted in the first phase, in the weeks before polling.
In Karnataka - where the BJP was trounced by the Congress in last year's state poll - it enjoyed a reversal in fortunes, picking up 12 of the 14 seats that polled this time in 2019.
The Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) won a seat each; Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar's brother, DK Suresh, won Bengaluru (Rural), and the JDS won Hassan.
Over in UP, the BJP won seven of eight seats voting today, including the temple towns of Mathura and Meerut, and Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddh Nagar, which border Delhi.
The eighth - Amroha - was won by ex-Chief Minister Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party.
In Maharashtra, the BJP won three of the eight seats polling today. The Shiv Sena (then undivided) won four and an independent lawmaker, Navneet Kaur Rana, who has since joined the BJP won the eighth.
Big Names In Phase 2
Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Shashi Tharoor, and KC Venugopal are contesting the Wayanad, Thiruvananthapuram, and Alappuzha seats in Kerala.
Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel is contesting from Rajnandgaon, a stronghold of the BJP for over 30 years.
READ | Rahul Gandhi, Hema Malini And Other Key Candidates In Phase 2 Polls
For the BJP, the actor-politician duo of Hema Malini and Arun Govil (who played Lord Ram in the Ramayana TV series), will be in action in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura and Meerut.
Also from the BJP, outgoing Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla and Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Shekhawat are standing in Rajasthan's Kota and Jodhpur.
The party will also see its Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya contest this phase.
Heat Warning
There is a heatwave warning for four states in this phase - Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka - leading to concerns of a low voter-turnout for seats in these areas.
READ | Heatwave In 4 States Voting On Friday, Experts Fear Drop In Turnout
The India Meteorological Department has forecast a hot summer, with an increase in the number of heatwave days. As a result, election officers from these states have been told to ensure stock of necessary facilities like awnings, drinking water and fans at all booths.
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