 "From Rahul Gandhi to Hema Malini, key candidates in Lok Sabha polls Phase 2")
The caravan of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections has moved to the second phase after a disappointing voter turnout in the first. Amid heated personal remarks between political parties, manipulation of history, and speeches about threats of an imminent loss of private property, the voting for the second phase is scheduled to be held on Friday, April 26.
This phase will see voting in 88 constituencies in 13 states and Union territories (UT). All 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala will go to polls on Friday, concluding voting in the Left Front-ruled state. This phase will also be the final voting phase for Manipur, Rajasthan, and Tripura.
Meanwhile, a total of 16 seats from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal, which are scheduled to hold polls in all seven phases, will be up for voting.
After the April 19 leg of voting witnessed an underwhelming voter turnout of around 66.1 per cent, a drop of nearly four percentage points compared to 2019, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has rolled up its sleeves and taken measures like forming a task force to ensure better turnouts.
The second phase of voting is set to decide the future course of a few prominent national leaders, at least for the next five years. Here's a look at the key candidates across constituencies:
Rahul Gandhi (Congress): Wayanad, Kerala
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Rahul Gandhi, the Congress leader and incumbent Member of Parliament from Wayanad, is set to re-enter the electoral arena to defend his seat. This time, Gandhi faces a significant challenge, with Annie Raja nominated by the CPI and K Surendran representing the BJP.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Gandhi secured a resounding victory in Wayanad, winning by an impressive margin of 7,06,367 votes. This victory marked the largest margin of victory in Kerala's electoral history, with Gandhi securing 706,367 votes while his closest competitor, CPI's PP Suneer, received 274,597 votes.
The Congress leader has remained in the news throughout the past five years. Among notable controversies, he was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha on March 24, 2023, for his alleged remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His consistent attack on the BJP for ruining the country's democratic institutions and targeted attacks against opposition leaders have made headlines.
Shashi Tharoor (Congress): Trivandrum, Kerala
Shashi Tharoor, a veteran Congress leader and former Union Minister, has maintained a stronghold on the Thiruvananthapuram constituency in Kerala over the years.
Since his initial victory in 2009, where he defeated the Communist Party after its two consecutive wins, Tharoor has consistently retained the seat. In both the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he secured victory over the BJP by a substantial margin, solidifying his position in the constituency.
Tharoor won by 99,989 votes against BJP's Kummanam Rajasekharan in the last LS polls. While the Congress leader secured 416,131 votes, his BJP counterpart could only muster 316,142 votes.
Shashi Tharoor has been making the news in the last year or so for his mixed remarks against his own party. In October last year, he had called the Congress a 'family-run' party only to clarify his statement later. In the following month, he was in the middle of a controversy again after he called Hamas attackers on Israel 'terrorists' during a pro-Palestine rally.
Arun Govil (BJP): Meerut, Uttar Pradesh
Arun Govil, renowned for his portrayal of Lord Rama in the Ramayan TV series, is poised to run for the Meerut MP seat. He will challenge Bahujan Samajwadi Party's (BSP) Devvrat Kumar Tyagi and Samajwadi Party's (SP) Sunita Verma.
The BJP gave Govil a ticket over three-time MP Rajendra Agarwal, who has represented Meerut since 2004. BJP's Agarwal won against the BSP candidate Haji Mohammad Yaqoob by a small margin of nearly 5,000 votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. While Yaqoob mustered 581,455 votes in the LS polls, Agarwal secured 586,184 votes to claim victory.
Political Pundits have attributed the change in the BJP candidate in Meerut this time to the thin margin Agarwal secured in 2019.
Last week, Govil made headlines when a video of the actor-turned-politician emerged in which he allegedly spoke about the evolution of the Constitution over time and the need for consensus for any changes. The opposition cornered Govil and the BJP over attempts to undermine the Constitution.
Hema Malini (BJP): Mathura, Uttar Pradesh
Film actress-turned-politician and two-time sitting MP Hema Malini has represented the Mathura constituency from the BJP since 2014 and is seeking a hat-trick this election. She is contesting against Congress's Mukesh Dhangar, a member of the All India Congress Committee (AICC).
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Hema Malini emerged victorious in the Mathura constituency with a huge margin. She secured around 530,000 votes, which was over 293,000 votes more than her closest competitor, Kunwar Narendra Singh from the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) party, who got 377,822 votes.
Malini was in the news recently over Congress leader Randeep Surjewala's derogatory remarks against the Mathura MP, to which she replied, "They should learn how to respect women from PM Narendra Modi."
Om Birla (BJP): Kota, Rajasthan
Om Birla, the incumbent Speaker of the Lok Sabha and two-term MP from Kota under the BJP banner is gearing up for another electoral contest to secure his seat and achieve a third consecutive victory. His opponent in this electoral battle is Prahlad Gunjal from the Congress party.
Kota, historically a Congress stronghold, saw a notable shift towards the BJP when Birla triumphed in the Kota constituency in both the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Before his Lok Sabha tenure, Om Birla had already established a formidable political presence in Rajasthan, serving as a Member of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly and representing the Kota South Assembly constituency from 2003 to 2014.
In 2019, Birla won the Kota seat with a margin of 279,677 votes against Congress' Ramnaraian Meena, who got 520,374 votes.
Bhupesh Baghel (Congress): Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh
Bhupesh Baghel, the former chief minister of Chhattisgarh and a veteran Congress leader, will contest from the Rajnandgaon constituency. Rajnandgaon, a stronghold of the BJP for over three decades, will witness a significant electoral challenge as Baghel competes against the BJP's Santosh Pandey.
Pandey emerged victorious in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections with 662,387 votes against Congress' Bhola Ram Sahu, who got 550,421. The BJP leader succeeded Abhishek Singh, the son of former Chief Minister Raman Singh, also affiliated with the BJP. Baghel's entry into the electoral fray of Rajnandgaon has intensified the competition in this region.
Baghel is currently under the Enforcement Directorate scanner in the Rs 508 crore Mahadev betting app case.
Tejasvi Surya (BJP): Bangalore south
Tejasvi Surya, the incumbent Member of Parliament representing Bangalore South and serving as the National President of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) since September 26, 2020, is set to vie for re-election in the 2024 elections from the same constituency.
Surya will be pitted against Congress candidate Sowmya Reddy.
In the previous 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, the BJP youth leader secured a resounding victory over his closest rival, Congress candidate B K Hariprasad, with a substantial margin of 3,31,192 votes.
The BJP youth leader has been consistently in the news for hate speeches. Last month, an FIR was registered against him over an alleged hate post on social media. The complaint was filed by officials of the poll body and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), alleging that the BJP MP in an X (formerly Twitter) post allegedly targeted a minority and spread enmity between two communities.
The Lok Sabha elections 2024 are being conducted in seven phases. Phase one concluded on April 19, and Phase 2 is set to begin on April 26. Phase 3 to 7 will be held on May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1, respectively.