New Delhi: Over 194 million people, more than the population of neighbouring Pakistan, are eligible to vote on Thursday to elect 140 MPs to the Lok Sabha from among big contenders including Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar and George Fernandes.
The second phase of the five-round elections covers 13 states and union territories, but polling was already completed on Wednesday in one seat in Manipur.
Also, the elections to the assemblies of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa will be completed on Thursday.
Rahul Gandhi is seeking re-election from the Gandhi family pocket-borough of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, Pawar from the newly created seat of Madha in Maharashtra and Fernandes from Muzaffarpur.
Other prominent candidates include the BJP's Sushma Swaraj from Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh, and Ramvilas Paswan from Hajipur in Bihar. Union Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath is contesting from the Chhindwara constituency in Madhya Pradesh, while other noteworthy names include Akhilesh Prasad Singh (Purvi Champaran, Bihar), Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (Vaishali, Bihar) and Raghunath Jha (Valmikinagar, Bihar).
Like in the first phase, campaigning was peaceful but was aimed at verbally bruising the opponent and sometimes one's own allies.