The stage is set for the second phase of voting for the Lok Sabha polls scheduled to take place on April 26, Friday for 89 constituencies in 12 states and one Union Territory. With the second phase, the voting will be completed for all the 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala and 25 seats in Rajasthan.
Among the states and Union Territories that will go to polls for the second phase are: Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Rajasthan, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.
The 13 assembly segments under the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha seat, where voting has been split by the Election Commission of India in an unprecedented move due to ongoing ethnic violence will also undergo voting on Friday.
Lok Sabha Elections Phase 2: VIP Candidates
Congress
Several constituencies with VIP candidates are up for grab in the second phase of Lok Sabha polls which include the Wayanad seat of Kerala from where Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will enter the poll fray while Shashi Tharoor has filed his nomination from Thiruvananthapuram, also on the cards in the second phase and will be in a direct contest against Union minister and BJP candidate Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel's electoral fortune will be tested from Rajnandgaon and so will be of former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's son, Vaibhav Gehlot from the Jalore seat.
Down south, eyes will be on DK Suresh's Bangalore Rural seat and K Murlidharan's Thrissur constituency.
Here is a list of VIP candidates to watch out for:
- Rahul Gandhi: Wayanad
- Shashi Tharoor: Thiruvananthapuram
- Pradyut Bordoloi: Nowgong
- Bhupesh Baghel: Rajnandangaon
- DK Suresh: Bangalore Rural
- M Lakshman: Mysore
- K Muraleedharan: Thrissur
- Vaibhav Gehlot: Jalore
- Sowmya Reddy: Bangalore South
- Vasantrao Chavan: Nanded
BJP
From the saffron party's fold, actor-politician Hema Malini will run for a third term from Uttar Pradesh's Mathura while television series Ramayana's famed actor, Arun Govil will make his electoral debut from Meerut Lok Sabha seat.
Firebrand party leaders like Tejasvi Surya will enter the poll fray from the Bangalore South seat while the party's West Bengal unit chief Sukanta Majumdar's Balurghat seat will also be up for grabs.
Congress leader AK Antony's son, Anil Antony who switched sides with the BJP and was rewarded with a ticket from Kerala's Pathanamthitta will also be in the fray on Friday.
Here is a list of VIP candidates to watch out for:
- Hema Malini: Mathura
- Arun Govil: Meerut
- Atul Garg: Ghaziabad
- Parimal Suklabaidya: Silchar
- Suresh Bora: Nowgong
- Shobha Karandlaje: Bangalore North
- PC Mohan: Bangalore Central
- Tejasvi Surya: Bangalore South
- Yaduveer Wadiyar: Mysore
- K Surendran: Wayanad
- Rajeev Chandrasekhar: Thiruvananthapuram
- Anil Antony: Pathanamthitta
- Raju Bista: Darjeeling
- Sukanta Majumdar: Balurghat
- Gajendra Singh Shekhawat: Jodhpur
- Om Birla: Kota
- Navneet Rana: Amravati