2024 Lok Sabha Election Phase 2: Voting on 88 Seats Today, Mathura and Wayanad Key Seats

The Lok Sabha Election Phase 2 is set to involve crucial states such as Karnataka and Kerala. The election will take place across all seats in Kerala, a portion of Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.

A 50 percent voter turnout has been recorded by 3 pm. Originally, 89 constituencies were expected to vote in this phase, but the polling in Betul, Madhya Pradesh, was rescheduled due to the death of a candidate from Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party.

Betul will now vote in the third phase, scheduled for May 7. Key candidates in this round include the Congress’s Rahul Gandhi, KC Venugopal, Bhupesh Baghel, and Vaibhav Gehlot, the son of Ashok Gehlot.

The BJP’s Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar will go up against Congress’s Shashi Tharoor in Thiruvananthapuram. Additionally, notable candidates include actors Hema Malini and Arun Govil from the iconic 1980s serial Ramayan, senior BJP leader Tejasvi Surya, and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.

For both the BJP and the Opposition, Karnataka and Kerala are the most crucial states in this phase. In 2019, the BJP won 25 of Karnataka’s 28 Lok Sabha seats, but the Congress emerged victorious in the last assembly election.

Concerns have been raised regarding delimitation and the potential disadvantage southern states could face after it. In Kerala, the BJP is seeking to break into the bipolar political landscape.

The party is aiming to open its account in the state by fielding Union ministers Rajiv Chandrasekhar and V Muraleedharan. Notably, in Wayanad, a Congress stronghold for over 20 years, the BJP has fielded its state unit president K Surendran against Rahul Gandhi.

The Opposition views Kerala as a significant hope, as it is one of the few states that have never sent a BJP member to parliament. With north, west, and northeast India already saturated, the BJP is looking to expand in the south and east in their quest for 370 seats.

The Congress is anticipating a much-improved performance compared to 2019, with claims growing louder after the first phase of the election, particularly in Rajasthan and western Uttar Pradesh. Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Tejashwi Yadav has expressed confidence in winning all five seats in Bihar.

The election is occurring amid a contentious face-off between the Congress and the BJP, sparked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comment about the Congress’s potential redistribution of personal wealth and the alleged targeting of women’s mangalsutras. The next phase of the election is scheduled for May 7, and the counting of votes will take place on June 4, following the seventh and last phase of the election on June 1.