Amid heat waves in most parts of the country, voters will have to brave the searing heat when they step out to exercise their franchise in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Friday.
Second phase of Lok Sabha polls will be a litmus test of sorts for the Narendra Modi Government as over 8.08 crore people are set to cast their vote.
The key issues facing the BJP are whether it will be able to end its electoral drought in Kerala. Will a spike in political temperature following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s sharp attack on the Congress boost turnout? Will controversy over heritance bill work in favour of BJP? Will controversy over Muslim being given reservation in SCs, STs and OBCs quota help BJP's voters? Will voting in Manipur violence free? Will the consecration of Ram Temple have an impact on voting trends on BJP's southern sojourn? These are some of the questions weighing on people's minds as 88 Lok Sabha seats go to the polls on Friday. After Friday's phase, polling will be over in Kerala, Rajasthan, and Tripura.
As many as 1,202 candidates, including prominent faces such as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad, Shashi Tharoor and Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar from Thiruvanthapuram, Ramayan serial actor Arun Govil from Meerut, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar's brother DK Suresh (Cong) from Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha constituency, former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy (JDS) from Mandya will try their electoral luck in the second phase while BJP's OM Birla from Kota, Hema Malini from Mathura, and Gajendra Singh Sekhawat from Jodhpur seeking a hat-trick of wins from their respective constituencies.
The BJP is relying on actor Suresh Gopi, Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Anil Antony, the son of veteran Congress leader A K Antony, to open its account in Kerala which has never elected an MP from the party.
A day before the second phase of the Lok Sabha polls, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday urged people to support his party and asserted this is an election to save democracy and the Constitution which he alleged the BJP-RSS are trying to "destroy". Rahul who is seeking a second-straight term from Wayanad in Kerala, in a video appeal said this election is to save democracy and the Constitution. "On one hand there is the BJP and the RSS that are trying to finish democracy and destroy the Constitution and on the other hand there is the Congress and the INDIA alliance that is saving democracy and the Constitution," he said.
Notably, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Thursday warned of heatwave to severe heatwave conditions in parts of West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh during the next five days.It has issued a red warning for West Bengal and Odisha and an orange alert for Bihar and parts of Karnataka. The Met office said high humidity could add to people's inconvenience in Tripura, Kerala, coastal Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Assam, Meghalaya and Goa.
More than 16 lakh polling officials have been deployed across 1.67 lakh polling stations for over 15.88 crore voters, the EC said. Voters include 8.08 crore male, 7.8 crore female and 5,929 third gender electors. As many as 34.8 lakh first-time voters are registered to cast their votes. Additionally, there are 3.28 crore young voters in the age group of 20-29 years, it said.
There are over 14.78 lakh registered 85+ years old, 42,226 voters above 100 years and 14.7 lakh PwD voters for phase 2 who have been provided the option to vote from the comfort of their homes.
The EC said three Helicopters, four Special trains and nearly 80,000 vehicles have been deployed to ferry polling and security personnel.
It further said that 251 Observers (89 General Observers, 53 Police Observers, 109 Expenditure Observers) have already reached their Constituencies days before the polls. They serve as the eyes and ears of the Commission to exercise utmost vigilance.
Additionally, Special Observers have been deployed in certain states. 9. A total of 4553 Flying Squads, 5731 Static Surveillance Teams, 1462 Video Surveillance Teams and 844 Video Viewing Teams are keeping surveillance round the clock to strictly and swiftly deal with any form of inducement of voters. 10. According to EC, a total of 1237 inter-state and 263 international Border check posts are keeping strict vigil on any illicit flow of liquor, drugs, cash and freebies. Strict surveillance has been kept at sea and air routes.
Around 4195 Model polling stations are being set up across the 88 PCs with local themes. More than 4100 Polling stations will be completely managed by women including security staff and at over 640 Polling stations by Persons with Disabilities (PwDs).
In 2019, the BJP had won 53 and its existing allies 12 of these seats, including seven of eight in Uttar Pradesh, all 13, eight and seven in Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh respectively, and four of the five seats each in Assam and Bihar. The constituents of the now INDIA bloc had won 23 seats in the last general election.
The first of the seven-phase elections held last Friday for 102 seats across 21 states and Union territories saw a voter turnout of around 65.5 per cent. In the first phase on April 19, polling was completed in all seats of Tamil Nadu (39), Uttarakhand (5), Arunachal Pradesh (2), Meghalaya (2), Andaman and Nicobar Islands (1), Mizoram (1), Nagaland (1), Puducherry (1), Sikkim (1) and Lakshadweep (1). In 2019, the NDA had won 56 of these 89 seats and the UPA 24. Six of these seats have been redrawn as part of the delimitation exercise. It may be recalled that polling for 29-Betul PC in Madhya Pradesh was rescheduled in the third phase due to the death of a candidate from Bahujan Samaj Party.
