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| Voting For 2nd Phase Of Lok Sabha Elections Begins; Polling For Betul (ST) Parliamentary Constituency Of MP To Be Held In 3rd Phase | | Jammu parliamentary constituency goes to polls today | | |  NEW DELHI APRIL 26:-
Voting for the second phase of Lok Sabha elections began this morning in 88 Parliamentary Constituencies spread over 12 States and Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir. Voting is taking place in twenty seats of Kerala, 14 seats of Karnataka, 13 seats of Rajasthan, 8 seats each of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, 6 seats of Madhya Pradesh, 5 seats each in Assam and Bihar, 3 seats each of West Bengal and Chhattisgarh and 1 seat each in Manipur, Tripura and Jammu and Kashmir. The polling for the Betul (ST) Parliamentary Constituency of Madhya Pradesh which was scheduled in the second phase will now be held in the third phase due to the demise of the BSP candidate.
Some of the prominent candidates whose political fate will be sealed in the EVMs today are Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad in Kerala, CPl’s Annie Raja also contesting from Wayanad, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar from Thiruvananthapuram, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor also from Thiruvananthapuram, Tejasvi Surya of BJP from Bengaluru South, Hema Malini of BJP from Mathura. Other key candidates are BJP’s Arun Govil from Meerut, ex-Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy from Mandya and Pappu Yadav from Purnea.
A total of 1,202 candidates along with four candidates from the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha constituency are in the fray in this phase. Voting began at 7 AM and will end at 6 PM. Polling time has been extended till 6 PM in many polling stations in Banka, Madhepura, Khagaria and Munger constituencies in Bihar to facilitate voters in hot weather conditions.
Over 16 lakh Polling officials will welcome over 15.88 crore voters across 1.67 lakh polling stations. Akashvani correspondent reports that 34.8 lakh first time voters are registered to cast their votes in this phase. Election Commission has called upon voters to turnout in greater numbers at polling stations and vote with responsibility and pride.
Jammu, Apr 25: As Jammu parliamentary constituency is all set to go to polls tomorrow amid multiple layers of security, J&K Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) P K Pole has exuded confidence that the polling percentage will cross voter turnout rate recorded during last election.
He was replying to the media queries, after visiting the strong room established at M A M College, on the eve of polling day here.
Last time in 2019, over seventy percent polling was registered, what percentage he was anticipating in 2024, witnessing the poll exuberance this time, in response to this question, the Chief Electoral Officer asserted, “Definitely, the percentage, you’ve mentioned will be crossed this time. I can say it with guarantee as there is great enthusiasm among people, including women and first-time voters.
Area (constituency) is urbanised, there is no difficulty as such. Even the candidates and political parties have exuberantly campaigned. They have reached out to voters in every nook and corner of the constituency and activated them. Their workers are also pro-active. Given this scenario, I believe that we’ll definitely cross the voting percentage mentioned by you.”
With regard to the second phase, Pole stated that there were no major challenges as the districts, which formed part of this parliamentary constituency, mainly comprised plain areas.
“Maximum area of Jammu, Samba, Reasi districts is a plain belt. Only the area in Mahore (in Reasi district) and Kalakote (of Rajouri district) is hilly. There is no connectivity issue in this area (parliamentary constituency). As far as weather prediction is concerned, there may be light showers in certain areas. Otherwise there is no major difficulty in these areas,” Pole said.
“Our only concern is to ensure maximum participation of voters in the electoral exercise. We have made all-out efforts to make the entire electoral process a seamless exercise for the convenience of voters. Therefore I want to appeal to the electorate that they should at least come out of their houses to vote in their designated polling stations in their own Mohallas (localities). There is a maximum urbanised area in this constituency. Still to facilitate voters, we have established a polling station almost in every Mohalla. We’ve worked hard to create all these facilities for the electorate. They (voters) should ensure to exercise their right to vote in their nearby (designated) polling station,” he said.
Responding to a question related to the first-time voters, CEO said, “Definitely, the first-time voters have registered themselves as voters, not just for the heck of it. Their purpose would not be just to get an EPIC (Elector’s Photo Identity Card) or see their names in the voter-list. For sure, they’ve become voters to cast their valuable vote and tomorrow will be the day to exercise their right to vote. I appeal to all, particularly the first-time voters, who are in the age-group of 18-22, that they should exercise their right to vote. They will definitely feel empowered. I assure you that they will get an enriching experience, which generates a wonderful feeling inside. We’ve made every possible effort to create the best of the facilities, which will ensure an amazing experience for you (voters) in the polling stations.”
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