95 constituencies across 11 states and 1 UT are going to polls.
The second phase of the Lok Sabha elections will see ninety-five parliamentary constituencies, spread over 11 states and 1 Union Territory, going to polls on Thursday.In the second phase, the polling will be held in Assam (five seats), Bihar (five seats), Chhattisgarh (three seats), Jammu and Kashmir (two seats), Karnataka (14 seats), Maharashtra (10 seats), Manipur (one seat), Odisha (five seats), Tamil Nadu (38 seats),
Uttar Pradesh (eight seats), West Bengal (three seats), and Union Territory Puducherry (one seat).Earlier on Tuesday, on the recommendation of the Election Commission of India (ECI), President Ram Nath Kovind had cancelled voting in Tamil Nadu's Vellore Lok Sabha constituency, in the wake of seizures of large amounts of unaccounted cash from the state.
Here is the election live blog you can read to track all the updates throughout the day.
Vellore was scheduled to go to polls on Thursday along with 38 other Parliamentary constituencies in the state.
Also, polling in East Tripura constituency has been deferred from April 18 to April 23 based on inputs received that the "law and order prevailing in the constituency is not conducive to the holding of a free and fair poll.
Here are some of the big leaders who are contesting:
(With agency inputs)
1. Former PM HD Devegowda from Tumkur
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He was facing rebel trouble with sitting Congress MP SP Muddahanumegowda filing nomination as independent after being disappointed with not getting ticket. Although finally SP Muddahanumegowda relented and withdrew the nomination.
(Image-AFP)
2. Former J&K CM Farooq Abdullah from Srinagar
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Former Union Minister and ex-J&K CM Farooq Abdullah is contesting from Srinagar, a seat he lost in 2014 but later won in bypoll. Farooq is among the 12 candidates that are in fray from Srinagar LS constituency which goes to polls in second phase on April 18. Though Congress has not fielded any candidate against Farooq, he is into a triangular fight with PDP's Aga Syed Mohsin and Peoples Conference's Irfan Reza Ansari. BJP has fielded former journalist and state spokesman Khalid Jehangir from the seat. Irfan and Khalid are contesting for the first time while Aga lost an assembly seat as an independent last time.
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3. Union Minister Jitendra Singh from Udhampur
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Union Minister Jitendra Singh is contesting from Udhampur, J&k. He is fighting a tough battle with opposition united for Vikramaditya Singh. Vikramaditya, grandson of Raja Hari Singh is contesting from Congress ticket with National Conference backing. Also, PDP has decided not to field any candidate to avoid a split in 'secular votes'.
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4. BJP MP Hema Malini from Mathura
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In Mathura, actor-politician and sitting MP Hema Malini, will contest against Narendra Singh of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and local industrialist Mahesh Pathak of the Congress.
(Image-PTI)
5. Raj Babbar from Fatehpur Sikri
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In Fatehpur Sikri, actor-politician and president of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee, Raj Babbar will contest against Shree Bhagwan Sharma alias Guddu Pandit of BSP.
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6. Kanimozhi from Thoothukkudi
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In Thoothukudi,there is an epic matchup with Kanimozhi Karunanidhi fighting against Tamilisai Soundararajan of BJP. With ED raiding her Tuticorin house couple of days ahead of polls, where they got no success, Kanimozhi has alleged that she is being targeted by the Centre.
(Image-PTI)
7. Karti Chidambaram from Sivaganga
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In Tamil Nadu's Sivaganga, former Union finance minister P Chidambaram's son Karti Chidambaram is taking on BJP national secretary H Raja in a bipolar contest where Congress is backed by DMK and BJP by AIADMK.
(Image-PTI)
8. Ashok Chavan from Nanded
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Nanded is one of the rare constituencies in Maharashtra that survived the Modi wave in 2014 when Ashok Chavan won by around 80,000 votes. Now, 5 years down the line, Congress is looking to ensure that party's Maharashtra chief retains the seat. Hence Rahul Gandhi has campaigned in Nanded to energise party's machinery in Marathwada region. Raj Thackeray whose MNS is not fighting in the Lok Sabha polls is opening canvassing against BJP and Sena and addressed a massive rally in Nanded.
Ashok Chavan, a Maratha is pitted against BJP's Pratap Chikhalikar, who is an MLA in the assembly. Pratap has the rare distinction of being part of all four major parties of Maharashtra during his political career.
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9. Sushil Kumar Shinde from Solapur
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Solapur is one of the rare Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra which is witnessing a proper three-way fight. Veteran Congress leader and former Union minister Sushilkumar Shinde is fighting his last election from Solapur. Against him is Prakash Ambedkar, grandson of BR Ambedkar who is the head of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA). Sensing a steep battle is on cards, BJP has replaced its sitting MP Sharad Bansode and has fielded Lingayat seer Jaisiddeshwar Swami.
(Image-PTI)
10. Mohd Salim from Raiganj
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Mohd Salim, one of the most prominent faces of CPI(M) is perhaps facing his toughest election from Raiganj.
Since 1952, Congress candidates have won the seat 13 times including the two terms for party stalwart Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi in 1999 and 2004. His wife Deepa Dasmunsi also represented the constituency in Parliament for a term.
This time Salim and Dasmunsi are facing each other like 2014. Also in the fray are TMC's Kanaialal Agarwal and BJP's Debasree Chaudhuri.
(Image-PTI)
