63% Turnout as 88 Seats Vote in Phase 2 of Lok Sabha Election 2024

The second phase of the Lok Sabha elections will see the states of Karnataka and Kerala playing crucial roles. Kerala, Rajasthan, and Tripura have already completed their polling, with a turnout of 63%. Originally, 89 constituencies were scheduled to vote in this phase, but polling in Betul, Madhya Pradesh, was postponed due to the death of a candidate from Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party.

Betul will now vote in the third phase on May 7. Key candidates for this round include Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, KC Venugopal, Bhupesh Baghel, and Ashok Gehlot’s son Vaibhav Gehlot; BJP’s Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, facing Congress’s Shashi Tharoor in Thiruvananthapuram; and notable personalities such as 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 BJP and the Opposition, Karnataka and Kerala are crucial states in this phase.

In 2019, BJP secured 25 of Karnataka’s 28 Lok Sabha seats, while the Congress emerged victorious in the last assembly election. The party aims to perform well despite concerns about delimitation and the potential disadvantage faced by southern states. Moving further south, the BJP is working to establish a presence in the bipolar politics of Kerala, with hopes of making gains.

Kerala has been a Congress stronghold for over 20 years, and the Opposition views it as a significant opportunity. The state has never elected a BJP member to parliament, and the election presents an opportunity for the party to expand its presence in the south and east. The election is happening amidst a contentious face-off between the Congress and the BJP, marked by disagreements and accusations.

The next phase of the election is scheduled for May 7, with the counting of votes to be held on June 4 – three days after the conclusion of the seventh and final phase on June 1.