Lok Sabha elections 2024 second phase: Voting for the second phase of Lok Sabha polls will be held for 88 seats in 13 states on Friday, April 26. Though voting was to be held for 89 seats in the second phase, polling for the Betul seat in Madhya Pradesh has been rescheduled to the third phase due to the death of a candidate from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
Uttar Pradesh will also go for voting in the second phase as eight out of 80 parliamentary seats are scheduled for polling on April 19. In the first phase also, the polling was done on eight seats in the state. Several leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Congress will try their luck on Friday.
Key candidates and constituencies in Phase 2:
- Meerut: Arun Govil (BJP) Vs Sunita Verma (SP) Vs Devvrat Kumar Tyagi (BSP)
- Amroha: Kanwar Singh Tanwar (BJP) Vs Kunwar Danish Ali Vs (Congress) VsMujahid Husain (BSP)
- Baghpat: Dr Rajkumar Sangwan (RLD) Vs Amarpal Sharma (SP) Vs Praveen Bansal (BSP)
- Ghaziabad: Atul Garg (BJP) Vs Dolly Sharma (Congress) Vs Nand Kishor Pundir (BSP)
- Gautam Buddha Nagar: Dr Mahesh Sharma (BJP) Vs Dr Mahendra Singh Nagar (SP) Vs Rajendra Singh Solanki (BSP)
- Bulandshahr: Dr Bhola Singh (BJP) Vs Girish Chandra (BSP) Vs Shivram Valmiki (Congress)
- Aligarh: Satish Kumar Gautam (BJP) Vs Bijendra Singh (SP) Vs Hitendra Kumar alias Bunty Upadhyay (BSP)
- Mathura: Hema Malini (BJP) Vs Mukesh Dhangar (Congress) Vs Suresh Singh (BSP)
Total 91 candidates in fray
Prominent among the total of 91 candidates whose future will be decided in the second phase are actors-turned-politician Hema Malini, who is seeking a third term from Mathura; and Arun Govil, who played the role of Lord Rama in the famed TV serial Ramayan. He has been fielded by the BJP from his native place Meerut. Altogether, Uttar Pradesh has 80 parliamentary constituencies and polling will take place in all the seven phases of the Lok Sabha election. With the NDA, the INDIA bloc and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) fielding their candidates, a three-cornered contest is on the cards.
Parties campaigned hard to woo voters
The BJP's campaign for the second phase was led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. For the Samajwadi Party (SP), its president Akhilesh Yadav led the campaign while Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, BSP president Mayawati and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Singh were on a hectic campaign trail of these constituencies during the past couple of days.
ALSO READ: Lok Sabha Elections 2024 Phase 2: List of 88 constituencies, states, parties and candidates