Bangla Insider | Lok Sabha Elections: Rahul-Shashi’s fate to be decided today

Voting for the second phase of the 18th Lok Sabha elections in India is underway today. In this phase, a total of 88 states will fight in 1 lakh 67 thousand polling stations. Where a total of 15 crore 88 lakh voters will exercise their rights.

Rahul Gandhi, former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor, outgoing Parliament Speaker Om Birla and several heavyweight political personalities of India are in the field in the second phase of the election battle, starting from Bollywood dreamgirl Hema Malini. Veteran candidates like Annie Raja, Navneet Rana, Arun Govil and Prahlad Joshi are in the fray.

According to the National Election Commission of India, polling was announced in 89 constituencies in the second phase at the time of election announcement. But polling was postponed due to the sudden death of BSP candidate Ashok Valvi in ​​Madhya Pradesh’s Betul Lok Sabha seat. So in the second phase polling is taking place in 88 constituencies.

The second phase of voting in West Bengal is taking place in the hilly areas of Darjeeling, Balurghat and Raiganj in the northern part of the state.

In the second phase, 88 constituencies of the 13 states of India are voting. They are Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Assam, Bihar, Manipur, Rajasthan, Tripura, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir.

Polling for the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections was held in 102 constituencies across 21 states. According to the National Election Commission of India, more than 60 to 79 percent votes were cast in the first phase of the election in the entire state. In the first phase, 77 percent votes were cast in the three centers of Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduaru in West Bengal. Not only that, women voted the most in Jalpaiguri, a tea plantation-dominated area of ​​West Bengal. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed that all these women voted for her party.

India’s Lok Sabha elections are being held in seven phases. It will last about two months. Voting will end on June 1. The results of the polls will be announced on June 4. On that day, it will be known that Narendra Modi’s government of BJP is coming back to power for the third time, or India coalition led by Rahul Gandhi will come to power.

Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi is re-contesting from Kerala’s Vanad Lok Sabha seat in the second phase of polling. He is contested by CPI’s Annie Raja and NDA’s K Surendran. Congress’s Mukesh Dhangar is contesting from Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura Lok Sabha seat against actress-turned-Member of Parliament and BJP candidate Hema Malini. Outgoing Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is once again BJP’s candidate from Rajasthan’s Kota seat. Congress has nominated Prahlad Gunjal against him. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor is again a candidate for the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat in Kerala. The BJP has fielded Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Leftist Panian Rabindran against him.