Important Spectators in Phase 2 of the Lok Sabha Election 2024: Rahul Gandhi, Tejasvi Surya, and Arun Govil

The second round of India’s parliamentary elections, which will take place in 13 states and union territories, begins on April 26. Results are anticipated on June 4 and the voting rounds will run until June 1. Rahul Gandhi is running for a second term in the Lok Sabha from the Wayanad seat, where he will be challenged by Annie Raja of the CPI and K Surendran, the state president of the BJP.

The second round of India’s parliamentary elections, which will take place in 13 states and union territories, begins on April 26. Polling will take place in all 20 seats in Kerala, 14 of Karnataka’s 28 seats, 13 seats in Rajasthan, and 8 seats in each of Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh during this phase. On Friday, there will also be elections for seven seats in Madhya Pradesh, five seats in Assam and Bihar, three seats in West Bengal and Chhattisgarh, and one seat each in Manipur, Tripura, and Jammu and Kashmir. Results are anticipated on June 4 and the voting rounds will run until June 1.

Important candidates to watch: Rahul Gandhi (Wayanad): The Congress member and former party president is running for a second term in the Lok Sabha from the Wayanad constituency. He will be challenged by Annie Raja of the CPI and K Surendran of the BJP.
Meerut’s Arun Govil: In Meerut, Govil—who is well-known for playing Lord Ram in the film “Ramayan”—replaced three-time BJP MP Rajendra Agarwal. He faces Devvrat Kumar Tyagi of the Bahujan Samaj Party and Sunita Verma of the Samajwadi Party.
Hema Malini (Mathura): Mukesh Dhangar of the Congress is running against the BJP mainstay for reelection.
Rajeev Chandrashekhar and Shashi Tharoor (Thiruvananthapuram): In Thiruvananthapuram, veteran Congressman Tharoor is running against BJP candidate Chandrashekhar.
Gajendra Singh Shekhawat (Jodhpur): The Congress’s Karan Singh Uchiyarda is putting up a fight to unseat the Union Minister for a third term.
Bhupesh Baghel (Rajnandgaon): Former chief minister of Chhattisgarh Baghel is running from Rajnandgaon, a BJP stronghold.
Tejasvi Surya (Bangalore South): Sowmya Reddy of the Congress will face off against the current Member of Parliament and National President of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), Surya.
Sukanta Majumdar (Balurghat): Joydeb Siddhanta of the Revolutionary Socialist Party and Biplab Mitra of the Trinamool Congress are the rivals for the seat held by the current BJP MP.