Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Shashi Tharoor, in addition to actor-turned-politician Arun Govil, are among the many key candidates vying for seats within the second part of the Lok Sabha elections, whereas BJP candidates Hema Malini, Om Birla, and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat are aiming for a hat-trick of victories.
The first part of the elections, held in seven phases final Friday for 102 seats throughout 21 states and Union territories, noticed a voter turnout of roughly 65.5%.
In the second part of Lok Sabha polls on Friday, polling is scheduled in all 20 seats of Kerala, 14 of the 28 seats in Karnataka, 13 seats in Rajasthan, eight seats every in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, seven in Madhya Pradesh, 5 every in Assam and Bihar, three seats every in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, and one seat every in Manipur, Tripura and Jammu and Kashmir.
Here are 10 political heavywieghts in fray in in part 2 of Lok Sabha Elections 2024:Â
1. Rahul Gandhi: Gandhi is the sitting MP from Wayanad in Kerala and is searching for re-election. He is pitted towards CPI’s Annie Raja and BJP’s Okay Surendran. Gandhi gained the 2019 election by greater than 7 lakh votes over his closest rival, CPI’s P P Suneer.
2. Shashi Tharoor: A senior Congress chief and former Union Minister, hopes to retain his Thiruvananthapuram seat for the fourth time. He will face Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar of the BJP and CPI’s Pannyan Raveendran.
3. Hema Malini: Malini, who has represented Mathura since 2014, is up towards Congress’ Mukesh Dhangar.
4. Om Birla: Former Lok Sabha speaker and two-term MP from Kota, is up towards Prahlad Gunjal of the Congress social gathering.
5. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat: Union Minister Shekhawat is aiming for his third win in Jodhpur, whereas Congress candidate Karan Singh Uchiyarda will attempt to stymie the BJP candidate.
6. Tejasvi Surya: The sitting MP for Bangalore South and nationwide president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), will face Congress candidate Sowmya Reddy.
7. Bhupesh Baghel: Former Chhattisgarh CM, Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel is contesting from Rajnandgaon, a stronghold of the BJP for over 30 years. Baghel will face BJP candidate Santosh Pandey, who gained the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, succeeding Abhishek Singh, the son of former Chief Minister Raman Singh.Â
8. KC Venugopal: The race for the Alappuzha seat in Kerala has grow to be a status battle for the Congress, with All India Congress Committee (AICC) common secretary Okay C Venugopal returning to the Lok Sabha ballot fray after 2014, because the social gathering seeks to reclaim the one seat it misplaced to the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) in its landslide 19-1 victory in Kerala within the 2019 elections.
Venugopal has by no means misplaced a main election in his profession. He gained the Alappuzha Assembly seat 3 times in a row (1996, 2001, and 2006), and was elected to the Lok Sabha from Alappuzha in 2009 and 2014. In 2019, he didn’t run for workplace after being appointed AICC common secretary by his social gathering.
9. Arun Govil: Govil, greatest recognized for enjoying Lord Ram within the Ramayan TV sequence, will face BSP’s Devvrat Kumar Tyagi and SP’s Sunita Verma.Â
10. Suresh Gopi: Actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi can also be within the fray from Thrissur towards Okay Muraleedharan of Congress and VS Sunil Kumar of CPI(M).
