88 constituencies spanning across 12 states will vote in the second phase of Lok Sabha Elections on April 26. Additionally, 15 Assembly Constituencies in Outer Manipur PC will go to polls on April 19 (Phase 1), and 13 ACs in this PC will go to polls on April 26. The votes will be counted on June 4 for all the 7 phases. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Former Home Minister of Chhattisgarh Tamradhwaj Sahu, Former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, Karnataka DY CM DK Shivakumar's brother DK Suresh, BJP's Tejashwi Surya, Congress' KC Venugopal, Shashi Tharoor, and Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar are among the 1206 candidates contesting in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections.
Phase 2 constituencies state-wise
Assam (5): Darrang-Udalguri, Diphu, Karimganj, Silchar, Nagaon
Bihar (5): Kishanganj, Katihar, Purnia, Bhagalpur, Banka
Chhattisgarh (3): Rajnandgaon, Mahasamund, Kanker
Karnataka (14): Udupi Chikmagalur, Hassan, Dakshina Kannada, Chitradurga, Tumkur, Mandya, Mysore, Chamarajanagar, Banglore Rural, Banglore North, Banglore Central, Banglore South, Chikkaballapur, Kolar
Kerala (20) : Kasargod, Kannur, Vadakara, Wayanad, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Ponnani, Palakkad, Althur, Thrissur, Chalakudy, Ernakulam, Idukki, Kottayam, Alppuzha, Mavelikkara, Pathanamthitta, Kollam, Attingal, Thiruvanathpuram.
Madhya Pradesh (7): Tikamgarh, Damoh, Khajuraho, Satna, Rewa, Hoshangabad, Betul
Maharashtra (8): Buldhana, Akola, Amravati, Wardha, Yavatmal-Washim, Hingoli, Nanded, Parbhani
Manipur (1) : Outer Manipur
Rajasthan (13) : Tonk-Sawai Madhopur, Ajmer, Pali, Jodhpur, Barmer, Jaore, Udaipur, Banswara, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand, Bhilwara, Kota, Jhalawar-Baran
Tripura (1) : Tripura East
Uttar Pradesh (8) : Amroha, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Gauram Buddha Nagar, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Mathura
West Bengal (3) : Maldaha Uttar, Maldaha Dakshin, Jangipur, Murshidabad
Jammu & Kashmir (1) : Jammu
Key Contituencies
Wayanad
Kerala's Wayanad is one of the 20 Lok Sabha seats in the state. This time, the elections in Wayanad are set to be interesting as the BJP has nominated state party chief K Surendran against sitting MP Rahul Gandhi. The CPI has announced Annie Raja as its candidate for the constituency, making it a triangular contest. In 2019, Rahul Gandhi secured a landslide victory by defeating CPI's PP Suneer by over 430,000 votes.
Thiruvananthapuram
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor is aiming for a fourth victory in Thiruvananthapuram. To halt Tharoor's winning streak and expand its presence in the southern state, the BJP has nominated Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar against the Congress leader. Tharoor clinched his first parliamentary election victory in 2009 by defeating CPI's P Ramachandran Nair by nearly one lakh votes. In 2014, although the margin decreased significantly, he still secured victory against BJP's O Rajagopal, who garnered close to 282,000 votes, while Tharoor managed to secure around 297,000 votes. In 2019, Tharoor defeated BJP's Kummanam Rajasekharan by a margin of approximately 100,000 votes.
Rajnandgaon
The Congress party has nominated former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel for the Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha seat. Political observers anticipate a fierce battle here as Congress leaves no stone unturned to wrest the seat from the BJP. The BJP has held this seat since 1998, with Raman Singh, former Chief Minister of the state, winning it in 1999. Since then, the Congress has struggled to snatch the seat from the BJP. Bhupesh Baghel will face BJP's Santosh Pandey, the incumbent MP, who seeks his third victory in Rajnandgaon.
Mandya
Former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy has been nominated by the ruling alliance NDA from the Mandya seat. He will face Chandru Star of the Congress party. In 2019, Sumalatha, the wife of actor Ambareesh, contested as an independent candidate and emerged victorious. Sumalatha joined the BJP on April 5 in the presence of former Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa, in Bengaluru. Reportedly, Sumalatha wanted to contest from the Mandya seat and had expressed her views against the seat going to JDS in the seat-sharing deal.
Banaglore South
BJP's Tejasvi Surya will face Congress' Sowmya Reddy in the Lok Sabha elections for the Bangalore South seat. The BJP has held this seat since 1991. Tejasvi Surya is contesting to secure his second victory from the seat. In 2019, he defeated Congress' BK Hariprasad by a margin of more than 330,000 votes.
Amravati
The BJP has given a ticket to actress-turned-politician Navneet Kaur Rana from the Amravati seat. Rana, the sitting MP from the constituency, will face Congress' Balwant Basawant Wankhede. In 2019, Rana, as an independent candidate backed by Congress and NCP, defeated Shiv Sena's Anandraon Adsul. Prior to 2019, Shiv Sena held the seat from 1999 to 2019. Former President Pratibha Patil was elected from this seat as a Member of Parliament in 1991.
