Congress president Rahul Gandhi on the eve of the second phase of polling urged people in a tweet to utilise their voting rights and to go for Nyay
Caravan News
NEW DELHI — For phase 2 Lok Sabha elections voting is taking place in 11 states and one union territory on Thursday. In this phase of polling representatives for 95 Lok Sabha seat will be elected.
The first phase of the general elections 2019 took place on April 11 for 91 constituencies in 18 states and 2 union territories which saw a voter turnout of 69.43 per cent.
Voting for electing MLAs in 35 of Odisha’s 147 assembly seats also started on Thursday along with polling for five of the state’s 21 Lok Sabha constituencies. In these constituencies, electors will cast two votes each.
States which are voting for Phase 2 Lok Sabha Election are Assam, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Manipur, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Bengal, Chhattisgarh, and Union Territory Puducherry.
Around 1,600 candidates are contesting on 95 seats for the second phase of Lok Sabha election 2019.
Prominent figures among the contestants for Phase 2 election are: Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, BJP lawmaker Hema Malini, Senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily, Rajya Sabha lawmaker Kanimozhi, Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Raj Babbar and National Conference President Farooq Abdullah.
In West Bengal, a total of 49,32,346 voters — 25,22,887 men, 24,09,372 women and 87 registered in the ‘other’ category — are eligible to exercise their franchise as polling began at 7 a.m. for three constituencies in the state.
In Tamil Nadu, voting is happening in 38 out of total 39 seats as the Election Commission on Tuesday rescinded the poll for Vellore Lok Sabha constituency after the Income Tax (IT) department seized unaccounted cash from the cement warehouse allegedly belonging to a DMK functionary’s relative.
Voting also started in 14 out of 28 seats in Karnataka, 10 out of 48 in Maharashtra, eight out of 80 in Uttar Pradesh, five out of 40 in Bihar, and three each in Chhattisgarh (out of 11) and West Bengal (out of 42).
Of Assam’s 14 constituencies, voting started in five of them while it also began in two out of six — Srinagar and Udhampur — in Jammu and Kashmir, and one constituency each in Manipur and Puducherry. Polling to Tripura East, which was slated for Thursday, has been deferred to the third phase on April 23 on security concerns.
Polling also started in the lone Puducherry Lok Sabha seat and in the Thattanchavady assembly constituency for which by-election is being held.
The seven-phase Lok Sabha elections started on April 11 and would conclude on May 19. Counting of votes will take place on May 23.
Meanwhile, Congress president Rahul Gandhi urged people to utilise their voting right during the second Phase of electionss and to cast their votes for Nyay.
Nyay for our unemployed youth; for our struggling farmers; for the small traders whose businesses were destroyed by Demonetisation; for those who were persecuted because of their caste or religion,” the Congress president said in his tweet.
When you vote today, remember that you vote for Nyay.
Nyay for our unemployed youth; for our struggling farmers; for the small traders whose businesses were destroyed by Demonetisation; for those who were persecuted because of their caste or religion. #VoteNyayVoteCongress pic.twitter.com/VvEZPPX5b8
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) April 18, 2019
(With inputs from IANS)
