Correspondents / WEB DESK
The election commission has completed all arrangements for the second phase of Lok Sabha elections on Thursday, April 18. 95 constituencies, spread over 11 States and one Union Territory, will go to polls in this phase.
Earlier, 97 constituencies were scheduled to be covered in this phase. But, election to Vellore seat in Tamil Nadu was cancelled over allegations of excessive use of money power and polling to Tripura (East) stands postponed to the third phase, over law and order concerns.
Polling will be held in 38 constituencies in Tamil Nadu, 14 – Karnataka, 10 – Maharashtra, 8- Uttar Pradesh, five each in Assam, Bihar and Odisha, 3 each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, two in Jammu and Kashmir and one each in Manipur and Puducherry.
In Tamil Nadu, besides polling to the 38 Lok Sabha seats, by-elections will also be held in 18 Assembly constituencies tomorrow. 822 candidates are in the fray for Parliamentary elections and 269 for Assembly by-elections. Nearly 6 crore electors are eligible to vote. Polling will be held from 7 am till 6 pm. In Madurai, voting time has been extended until 8 pm in view of the famous Kallazhagar festival.
In Maharashtra, security personnel have already taken positions for confidence-building measures and the safety and security of voters and poll workers.
A total of one crore 86 lakh 06 thousand 926 voters will decide the fate of 179 candidates in the fray.
In Assam arrangement for webcasting and video recording at some places. Special arrangements are made for Divyang, female and elderly voters so that they could exercise their franchise easily. All the 5 seats are likely to see straight or triangular fights.
In Bihar, Purina, Kishanganj, Katihar, Bhagalpur and Banka will be covered in second phase. Over 3,200 polling stations out of total 8,644 are declared sensitive and would remain under the direct surveillance of micro observers.
Meanwhile, campaigning is picking up for the third phase. Polling in this phase will take place on the 23rd of this month. Senior BJP leader and Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a rally at Madha in Maharashtra today.
He said the government stands firmly with farmers affected by the recent rain and hailstorm.