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

The Lok Sabha Election Phase 2 is set to be crucial, with a focus on states such as Karnataka and Kerala. In this phase, the election will be held in all seats of Kerala, as well as a portion of seats in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. As of 9 am, the voter turnout was recorded at an average of 9.3%.

Initially, 89 constituencies were scheduled for voting 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. As a result, Betul will now vote in the third phase on May 7. Key candidates in this round include the Congress’s Rahul Gandhi, KC Venugopal, Bhupesh Baghel, Ashok Gehlot’s son Vaibhav Gehlot, BJP’s Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Congress’s Shashi Tharoor, actors Hema Malini and Arun Govil, senior BJP leader Tejasvi Surya, and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.

For both the BJP and the Opposition, the most crucial states in this phase are Karnataka and Kerala. The BJP won 25 of Karnataka’s 28 Lok Sabha seats in 2019, but the Congress succeeded in the last assembly election. The BJP is aiming for success amid concerns about delimitation and the potential disadvantages faced by southern states.

In Kerala, the BJP is striving to break into the state’s bipolar politics, hoping to gain its first seat in parliament. The Congress and the Left are competing in Kerala, but a victory by either party will contribute to the Opposition’s overall tally. Kerala is among the states that have never sent a BJP member to parliament.

With the north, west, and northeast saturated, the BJP is seeking to expand its presence in the south and east, aiming for 370 seats. The Congress has expressed confidence in its performance for this election, especially in Rajasthan and western Uttar Pradesh. There has been a sharp exchange between the Congress and the BJP, sparked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comment about the Congress’s purported wealth redistribution plans.

The election will continue with the next phase on May 7, and the counting of votes is scheduled for June 4, following the seventh and final phase, which will take place on June 1.