Lok Sabha Elections 2024 Phase 2: Voting is to be held on Friday for the second phase of Lok Sabha elections (Lok Sabha Elections 2024). Votes will be cast on a total of 88 seats in 13 states and union territories. With the second phase, voting will be completed on one-third of the seats in the country. That is, the fate of the candidates on 189 out of 543 seats will be locked in EVM. On Friday, votes will be cast simultaneously on all 20 seats of Kerala. Apart from this, voting will be held on the remaining 13 seats of Rajasthan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a target of 370 seats for BJP and 400 plus seats for NDA in this election. In the second phase, the party is contesting on the maximum number of seats. In such a situation, the question is how much does BJP expect from the second phase of voting to complete ‘Mission 370’?Â
In the second phase, voting will be held on all 20 seats of Kerala. Votes will be cast on 13 seats of Rajasthan, 14 seats of Karnataka, 8 seats of Maharashtra. Voting will also be held on 8 seats of Uttar Pradesh, 6 seats of Madhya Pradesh, 5 seats of Assam, 5 seats of Bihar. Voting will also be held on 3 seats of Chhattisgarh, 3 seats of Bengal, 1 seat each of Tripura-Jammu-Kashmir and Manipur. Rahul Gandhi is contesting from Wayanad seat of Kerala.
Who is contesting on how many seats?
Out of the total 88 seats in the second phase, BJP is contesting on 70 seats. Congress is also contesting on 70 seats. Shiv Sena is contesting on 3 seats and Shiv Sena UBT on 4 seats. CPM has fielded candidates on 16 seats. Bahujan Samaj Party has fielded candidates on 74 seats. Janata Dal United has fielded candidates on 5 seats. In the 2014 elections, 67.3% voting took place in the second round. In the 2019 elections, 70.1% voting took place. Â
For Mission 370, BJP’s focus is on the seats in the South. Kerala and Karnataka are special among these. In Kerala, BJP is calling itself the third stream between the UDF-LDF front. If BJP wins 10 or more seats here, then obviously its vote share will increase. Because BJP is at saturation point in North India. At the same time, BJP would like to repeat its excellent performance of 2019 in Karnataka too.
BJP expected to win at least 10 seats in Kerala
in the second phase, voting will be held on all 20 seats of Kerala. In the last three Lok Sabha elections, BJP’s score in Kerala is 0-0-0. However, PM Narendra Modi had recently made a big claim in Thiruvananthapuram that his party will win double digit seats in the state in the Lok Sabha elections. This means that BJP is expected to win at least 10 seats in the state. In the past two months, PM Modi has made whirlwind tours of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. In the past few years, BJP has made a dent in the Hindu votes of the Left in Kerala, while the minority voters are inclined towards the Congress.
There has been a trend of vote shifting in Kerala. Whenever CPM-Congress feels that BJP is going to win somewhere, they shift votes between themselves so that BJP can be defeated in any way. Now it remains to be seen how well the CPM-Congress formula works in front of PM Modi’s strategy.
Voting is to be held on 13 Lok Sabha seats of Rajasthan
Out of 13, there are 2 seats where sons of two former chief ministers are in the fray. The prestige of both these former chief ministers is at stake. Vasundhara Raje’s son and current MP Dushyant Singh is the BJP candidate from Jhalawar-Baran seat, where he is facing Congress’ Urmila Jain Bhaiya. At the same time, Ashok Gehlot’s son Vaibhav Gehlot is in the fray from Congress from Jalore-Sirohi seat, where he is up against BJP’s Lumba Ram Chaudhary. Apart from Jhalawar-Baran seat, BJP is targeting Jodhpur, Barmer, Pali, Jalore, Rajsamand, Ajmer, Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Udaipur, Banswara. BJP has occupied Tonk-Sawai Madhopur for 10 years. Om Birla is the MP from Kota.
BJP would like to increase its vote share in 8 Lok Sabha seats of western UP
In the second phase, voting is to be held in 8 Lok Sabha seats of western UP. Voting will take place in Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Bulandshahr, Amroha, Aligarh and Mathura. BJP has put in all its efforts to retain all the seats of western UP. PM Modi had recently held rallies in Aligarh and Amroha.
How will it manage Karnataka, the only fort of the South?
In Karnataka, BJP has always performed brilliantly in the Lok Sabha elections. Karnataka is the only state in the South where BJP has a strong hold. In the 2019 elections, BJP registered a one-sided victory on 25 out of 28 seats. Congress managed to win only one seat. In such a situation, BJP once again faces the challenge of repeating the performance of the last election. While Congress is busy strengthening its hands.
In fact, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Congress had to face a crushing defeat in the state due to the scattering of OBC votes. OBC votes had shifted in favor of BJP. This time Congress has played the bet of keeping Dalits and tribals united with OBCs. Dalit and tribal votes along with OBCs are actually the collective votes of the Vokkaliga community. However, Vokkaligas are considered to be voters of JDS. In such a situation, Congress is expecting these votes to go to its share by joining hands with BJP-JDS.
Voting is being done in 7 phases
Voting is being done in seven phases for the elections for 543 seats in the country. Voting for the first phase took place on 19 April. Voting for the second phase is to be done on 26 April. Voting for the third phase will be held on 7 May for 94 seats. Votes will be cast for 96 seats in the fourth phase. Voting for the fifth phase will be held on 20 May. Voting will be held on 49 seats in this phase. Voting will be held on 25 May for 57 seats in the sixth phase. Voting will be held on 1 June for 57 seats in the seventh phase. The results will be declared on 4 June.
