Lok Sabha Elections Phase 2: Rahul Gandhi to Hema Malini, 6 key candidates
ET Online|
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Rahul Gandhi: Wayanad
Elections for the second phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections are going to be held on April 26, where 89 constituencies across 12 states and 1 UT will go into polls. Rahul Gandhi's Wayanad is one of the constituencies that will vote on the day, making the Congress leader a key candidate in Phase 2. Rahul Gandhi, Congress MP, is running for reelection from the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat.. But this time, he expects a tougher competition. The ruling Left has proposed Annie Raja as a candidate to challenge Gandhi, while the BJP has nominated K Surendran. Gandhi moved to Wayanad in the 2019 elections after Union Minister Smriti Irani defeated her in Amethi by a wide margin of more than 55,000 votes. Gandhi defeated CPI candidate PP Suneer in Wayanad with 706,367 votes, winning by a wide margin of more than 7 lakh votes.
PTI
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Hema Malini: Mathura
Renowned actress, director, producer, and politician Hema Malini has been serving as the Bhartiya Janta Party's MP for the Mathura constituency in the Lok Sabha since 2014. She is running against Mukesh Dhangar, the Congress candidate and the state president of the Uttar Pradesh Congress unit, in her third attempt at reelection. Hema Malini won a big win in the Mathura constituency of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. With about 5,30,000 votes, she defeated her nearest opponent, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) candidate Kunwar Narendra Singh, by a commanding margin of more than 2,93,000 votes.
PTI
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Bhupesh Baghel: Rajnandgaon
Bhupesh Baghel, the former chief minister of Chhattisgarh and leader of the Congress party, is facing a tough challenge during the elections this year. The party has nominated Baghel to run from the Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha seat, which has been a BJP stronghold for more than thirty years and is thought to be Raman Singh's former three-time chief minister's territory. Since the state's creation in 2000, the BJP has won all but one of the elections held in Rajnandgaon, making it a historical stronghold for the party.
PTI
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Shashi Tharoor: Thiruvananthapuram
Since 2009, senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor has been the recurrent winner of the Thiruvananthapuram seat. One of the most popular Congress leaders in Kerala, Tharoor is a former UN diplomat. After he ran for Congress president in October 2022, albeit unsuccessfully, his reputation was further enhanced. This time, Tharoor will compete against Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, a formidable opponent from the BJP. Shashi Tharoor won Thiruvananthapuram in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections by a margin of about 99,989 votes.
PTI
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Om Birla: Kota Bundi
Om Birla, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and current MP for the BJP, has won the Kota constituency twice since the 2014 elections. Prior to the BJP's incursion in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the seat was regarded as a Congress stronghold. In a hotly contested election, Om Birla defeated Congressman Ramnarain Meena by a margin of 2,79,677 votes to retain the Kota seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections. In a constituency that saw a turnout of almost 70%, Birla received 8,00,051 votes, while Meena received 5,20,374 votes.
PTI
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Tejasvi Surya: Bangalore South
Tejasvi Surya is the BJP candidate from key constituency Bangalore South that will vote on April 26. In the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, Surya won the seat by defeating B. K. Hariprasad of the Congress, thereby representing Bangalore South, a longstanding stronghold of the BJP. The BJP youth leader crushed his nearest opponent, Congress candidate B. K. Hariprasad, by a massive margin of 3,31,192 votes, extending the party's winning streak in the seat. In 2024, he faces a challenge from Congress' Sowmya Reddy.
