LS Election: Barring Some Poll related Violence In Bengal, Second Phase Concludes
With Election Commission seeking detailed report from WB’s CEO on poll related violence in some parts of WB and alleged booth capturing in North Bengal’ Raiganj, the second phase of the Lok Sabha polling concluded on Thursday, April 18,in a total of 95 seats spreading over 11 states and the Union Territory of Puducherry. (Picture above is about a booth in Imphal). Condemning poll related violence in West Bengal, Former Union Minister Dr Subramaniam Swamy, MP, says on Twitter if violence cannot be stopped by Bengal police, the EC should ask under Article 324 read with 356 the President of India to declare President’s Rule in the State .CPI-M leader Mohammed Salim alleged his convoy was attacked in Islampur by TMC supporters .Ahead of polling, a BJP activist was found hanging from a tree in Purulia close to WB –Jharkhand border.Dr Jitendra Singh , Minister for North-East Development and MOS in The Prime Minister’s Office, is seeking re-election from Udhampur in Jammu,Jual Oram, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs , is trying to retain his seat in Odisha , Dr Sambit Patra ,a physician turned politician ,is contesting from Puri and popular Bollywood star Hema Malini is seeking re-election from Mathura, the famed Hindu religious city in Uttar Pradesh. Simultaneously, in Odisha, assembly elections for 35 seats were also conducted with ruling BJD supremo and Chief Minister Navin Patnaik ,73,is contesting for fifth term from his home turf Hinjili in Ganjam district and Bijepur in Bargarh.CPI(M) MP Mohammed Salim said polling booth was captured by some armed TMC supporters in Raiganj .The local police were helpless as armed goons entered the booth. The states which went to polls today are Assam (5 parliamentary constituencies), Bihar (5), Chhattisgarh (3), Jammu and Kashmir (2), Karnataka (14), Maharashtra (10), Manipur (1), Odisha (5), Tamil Nadu (38), Tripura (1), UP (8), West Bengal (3) and Puducherry (1). The second phase of polls will decide the fate of a total of 279 candidates. There are 35 hopefuls, including five women, in five Lok Sabha constituencies, and 244 candidates, 25 of them women, in 35 assembly seats. Besides chief minister and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president Naveen Patnaik, other prominent contestants in Odisha included BJD’s Rajya Sabha MPs Prasanna Acharya and Achyut Samant, BJP nominee and three-time MP Kharabela Swain are in the fray in the Lok Sabha polls. Congress candidate from Mangaldoi, Bhubaneswar Kalita ,stated to be the richest among the 50 candidates in fray in the Phase II of Lok Sabha elections in Assam .In Karnataka, Mandya, where independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh is contesting against JD(S)’ Nikhil Kumaraswamy . Bangalore North, where the BJP has fielded D V Sadanand Gowda against the Congress’ Krishna Byre Gowda, In Bangalore South, where the BJP candidate is Tejasvi Surya against the Congress’ B K Hariprasad and in Bangalore Central where there will be a three-way fight among the BJP’s P C Mohan, Congress’ Rizwan Arshad and popular cine star Prakash Rai ,an Independent candidate. The third phase of polling will be on April 23 in 115 Parliamentary Constituencies in 12 states and two Union Territories. The states are Assam (4 parliamentary constituencies), Bihar (5), Chhattisgarh (7), Gujarat (26), Goa (2), Jammu and Kashmir (1), Karnataka (14), Kerala (20), Maharashtra (14), Odisha (6), UP (10), West Bengal (5) and Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli (1) and Daman and Diu (1).
