The greatest festival of democracy in the world, the Lok Sabha elections 2024, commenced on April 19, and is set to go on till June 1. Tomorrow, April 26, will witness the second phase of polling across 89 constituencies in 13 states and union territories.
The states which are going to polls in phase 2 are Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, Rajasthan, Manipur and West Bengal.
1. Assam
Karimganj
Silchar
Mangaldoi
Nawgong
Kaliabor
2. Bihar
Kishanganj
Katihar
Purnia
Bhagalpur
Banka
3. Chhattisgarh
Rajnandgaon
Mahasamund
Kanker
4. Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu
5. Kerala
Kasaragod
Kannur
Vadakara
Wayanad
Kozhikode
Malappuram
Ponnani
Palakkad
Alathur
Thrissur
Chalakudy
Ernakulam
Idukki
Kottayam
Alappuzha
Mavelikkara
Pathanamthitta
Kollam
Attingal
Thiruvananthapuram
Madhya Pradesh
Tikamgarh
Damoh
Khajuraho
Satna
Rewa
Hoshangabad
Maharashtra
Buldhana
Akola
Amravati
Wardha
Yavatmal-Washim
Hingoli
Nanded
Parbhani
Manipur
Outer Manipur
Rajasthan
Tonk-Sawai Madhopur
Ajmer
Pali
Jodhpur
Barmer
Jalore
Udaipur
Banswara
Chittorgarh
Rajsamand
Bhilwara
Kota
Jhalawar-Baran
Tripura
Tripura East
Uttar Pradesh
Amroha
Meerut
Baghpat
Ghaziabad
Gautam Budh Nagar
Aligarh
Mathura
Bulandshahr
West Bengal
Darjeeling
Raiganj
Balurghat
Udupi Chikamagalur
Hassan
Dakshina Kannada
Chitradurga
Tumkur
Mandya
Mysore
Chamarajanagar
Bangalore Rural
Bangalore North
Bangalore Central
Bangalore South
Chikballapur
Kolar
A number of star candidates will have their fates on line during the second phase of the LS polls. Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Shashi Tharoor, BJP leader Hema Malini, and LS Speaker Om Birla are among them.
Former Union Minister Tharoor is hoping to retain the Thiruvananthapuram seat for the fourth time. He is pitted against Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar from the BJP and CPI's Pannyan Raveendran.
Malini, who has represented the Mathura constituency since 2014, is contesting against Congress' Mukesh Dhangar while Om Birla, a two-time MP from Kota, is facing Prahlad Gunjal from the Congress party.
In Karnataka, JD(S) leader and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy will see his fate play out in ballot boxes during phase 2, along with Udpupi Chikamagaluru candidates—Kota Srinivas Poojary of the BJP and Congress's K Jayaprakash Hegde.
In Bangalore South, Tejasvi Surya, the sitting MP, and national president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), will face Congress' Sowmya Reddy.
Replacing three-time MP Rajendra Agarwal, who has been holding the Meerut seat since 2004, Arun Govil, famous for portraying Lord Ram's character in Ramayan TV series, is making his electoral debut against BSP's Devvrat Kumar Tyagi and SP's Sunita Verma.
Former chief minister of Chhattisgarh and Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel is contesting from Rajnandgaon, a stronghold of the BJP for over 30 years.
Baghel is pitted against BJP's Santosh Pandey, who won the 2019 Lok Sabha elections succeeding Abhishek Singh, the son of former Chief Minister Raman Singh, also from the BJP.
The contest for the Alappuzha seat in Kerala has turned into a prestige battle for the Congress with All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary K C Venugopal’s return to the Lok Sabha poll fray after 2014 as the party looks to wrest the only seat it lost to the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) in its landslide 19-1 victory in Kerala in the 2019 polls.
Venugopal has not lost any major election in his career. He won the Alappuzha Assembly seat thrice in a row in 1996, 2001, and 2006 and was elected to the Lok Sabha from Alappuzha in 2009 and 2014.
Actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi is also in the fray from Thrissur against K Muraleedharan of Congress and VS Sunil Kumar of CPI(M).
As is the norm during an election day, schools, colleges, and other educational institutions, as well as relevant non-essential government services in Bengaluru will be shut down on election day.
Additionally, corporate offices will provide their employees with at least a leave to allow them to vote, as it is mandatory to do so according to the law.
Karnataka HC also declared a general holiday to the High Court Benches on April 26 and May 7, on account of Lok Sabha Elections 2024. Banks will be shut too.
The district magistrate's office also released an order banning the production, sale, distribution, transportation, storage etc. of liquor from 5:00 PM on 24 April to 12:00 midnight on 26 April. Thus, any liquor stores will remain closed.
To avoid any incidents during the polling day, a prohibitory order under Section 144 of the CrPC will be in place from 6 pm on April 24 to the midnight of April 26 in the Bengaluru city commissionerate limits.
Essential services, such as BMTC, BMRCL, hospitals, etc. will remain in operation.
Commercial establishments will also remain open, although they will likely start operations late to allow their eligible employees to vote early in the day.
As Bengaluru gears up for the elections on 26 April, it's crucial for citizens to prioritize their civic duty before embarking on their long weekend plans that the election holiday will provide.
NDTV reports that security has been tightened for phase 2 of the LS polls near the Indo-Bangladesh border. The Election Commission is also reportedly taking measures to protect voters from the summer heat.
With DH Web Desk, PTI inputs