Lok Sabha Election: In the second phase, six ministers of the Central Government are also in the fray, who is challenging whom?

Voting for the second phase of Lok Sabha elections is taking place on Friday. In the second round, voting is taking place on 88 seats in 13 states and union territories including Manipur. A total of 1202 candidates are in the fray for these seats. The first phase of voting has taken place in 15 assembly constituencies of Manipur's Outer Manipur Lok Sabha seat on April 19, while the second phase is being held in the other 13 assembly constituencies.

In this phase, the fate of six central government ministers is also at stake. These ministers include Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Virendra Khatik, Kailash Chaudhary, Rajiv Chandrashekhar, Shobha Karandlaje, and V. Muraleedharan.

Gajendra Singh Shekhawat: Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat is once again contesting from his traditional Jodhpur seat. Shekhawat has won from here twice in a row. In 2019, he defeated then Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's son and Congress candidate Vaibhav Gehlot in this seat. This time he is facing Congress's Karan Singh. In 2019, there was 68.89% voting on the Lok Sabha seat.

Kailash Chaudhary: Another minister of the Modi government, Kailash Chaudhary is once again contesting from the Barmer seat. Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Choudhary won from here in 2019. This time he is facing Congress's Ummedaram Beniwal and Sheo assembly seat MLA Ravindra Singh Bhati, who is contesting as an independent candidate. In 2019, 73.30% of voting took place on Barmer's seat. In 2019, Kailash Choudhary defeated former Finance Minister Jaswant Singh's son and Congress candidate Manvendra Singh from Barmer's seat.

Virendra Khatik: Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Virendra Khatik is the BJP candidate from Tikamgarh seat of Madhya Pradesh. In 2019, BJP's Virendra Khatik had won from here. In the 2024 elections, he is contesting against Pankaj Ahirwar who is the Congress candidate. In the last Lok Sabha elections, 66.62% of people voted for the Tikamgarh seat.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar: Union Minister of State for Electronics and Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar is the BJP candidate from Thiruvananthapuram seat in Kerala. Rajiv is a Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka. In 2019, Congress's Shashi Tharoor won from Thiruvananthapuram. This time he is facing Shashi Tharoor from Congress and Panniyan Ravindran from CPI. In the last election, 73.74% of people voted in Thiruvananthapuram seat.

Shobha Karandlaje: Minister of State for Agriculture in the Central Government, Shobha Karandlaje is trying her luck from Bangalore North seat of Karnataka. In the last Lok Sabha elections, Shobha had won from Udupi Chikmagalur seat on the BJP ticket. BJP's DV Sadanand Gowda became MP by winning from Bangalore North seat. In the 2024 elections, Shobha Karandlaje will contest against Congress's Prof. MV from Rajiv Gowda. In 2019, 54.76% of people had exercised their franchise in Bangalore North seat.

V. Muraleedharan: Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan is the BJP candidate from the Attingal seat. Muraleedharan has been a Rajya Sabha MP from Maharashtra. In 2019, Adoor Prakash of Congress was successful from Attingal. This time, Muraleedharan is facing Adoor Prakash from Congress and V. Joy from CPI(M). In 2019, 74.48% of people voted for Attingal seat.

Lok Sabha Speaker and former Chief Minister are also in the fray

Along with Union Ministers, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is also in the fray in this phase. Birla is contesting again from the Kota seat. He had won from here in 2019. Former Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh Bhupesh Baghel is also in the fray in this phase. Baghel is the Congress candidate from the Rajnandgaon seat. BJP's Santosh Pandey had won from here in 2019. This time too Pandey is the BJP candidate.

Also Read: Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Home Minister Amit Shah will hold a public meeting in PM Modi's parliamentary constituency today, will interact with workers