Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Shashi Tharoor Vs Rajeev Chandrasekhar In Key Battles Of Phase Two

Phase two of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in India are set to unfold on April 26. The first phase of the elections—held on April 19 for 102 seats, across 21 states and Union Territories—saw a voter turnout of around 65.5%. During this phase, a total of 88 seats across 13 states and Union Territories will witness contests.

Voting is set to take place across multiple states, including for 20 seats of Kerala, 14 of the 28 seats in Karnataka, 13 seats in Rajasthan, eight seats each in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, seven in Madhya Pradesh, five each in Assam and Bihar, three seats each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, and one seat each in Manipur, Tripura, and Jammu and Kashmir.

While the first phase saw battles between heavyweight Union ministers and former Chief Ministers, the second phase is set to witness political biggies and Bollywood actors fight it out for seats. Prominent candidates in the second phase include Rahul Gandhi, Shashi Tharoor, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Om Birla, Hema Malini, Arun Govil, and Tejasvi Surya, among others.

Here is a look at heavyweight battles in this phase:

Gandhi is the sitting Member of Parliament from Wayanad in Kerala and is seeking re-election. He is pitted against Communist Party of India's Annie Raja and Bharatiya Janata Party's K Surendran. In the 2019 election, Gandhi secured victory by a substantial margin of more than 7 lakh votes against his closest rival—CPI's PP Suneer.

Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala will see Shashi Tharoor from Congress face Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar from BJP and CPI's Pannyan Raveendran. But BJP hardly has any support in the state, and lost to Congress in the last two general elections as well. Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Tharoor is hoping to retain the Thiruvananthapuram seat for the fourth time.

Uttar Pradesh's Mathura will see BJP's Hema Malini fight it out with Mukesh Dhangar from Congress. The 'Dream Girl' actress of Hindi cinema has held the seat since 2014.

Lok Sabha Speaker and two-time MP from Kota, Om Birla, is all set for his hat-trick. The BJP MP is facing Prahlad Gunjal from the Congress party.

Traditionally, a stronghold of the Congress, Kota saw a huge shift in 2014 and 2019 elections, when the results went in favour of BJP.

Tejasvi Surya, the sitting MP for Bangalore South and the national president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, will face Congress' Sowmya Reddy.

BJP stronghold Meerut in Uttar Pradesh will see Arun Govil—known for playing Ram in the famous Ramayana series—stand against Bahujan Samaj Party's Devvrat Kumar Tyagi and Samajwadi Party's Sunita Verma.

This is Govil's electoral debut.

In Rajasthan, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat is eyeing a third win from the Jodhpur seat against Congress candidate Karan Singh Uchiyarda.

Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel is challenging BJP's dominance in Rajnandgaon. He is standing against Santosh Pandey, who won in 2019. Pandey had succeeded Abhishek Singh, son of ex-CM Raman Singh.

West Bengal will see an interesting contest in Darjeeling. BJP's Raju Bista faces a challenge from former party MLA Bishnu Prasad Sharma, now an independent. Congress-Hamro Party alliance backs Munish Tamang, supported by Communist Party of India (Marxist).