New Delhi, Apr 9 : The Election Commission announced on Tuesday that a total of 1,210 candidates will be contesting in the second phase of the Lok Sabha polls scheduled for April 26.
Kerala leads with the highest number of nominations, with 500 candidates vying for 20 parliamentary constituencies, followed by Karnataka with 491 nominations across 14 seats. Conversely, Tripura received the lowest number of nominations, with only 14 candidates contesting from one constituency. Nanded constituency in Maharashtra garnered the maximum nominations at 92, according to the poll authority.
In total, 2,633 nominations were filed for 88 constituencies across 12 states and Union Territories set for polling in phase two. Following scrutiny, 1,428 nominations were deemed valid. After withdrawal of some nominations, 1,210 candidates remain in the race.
Phase two will witness elections in 13 assembly segments of the Outer Manipur parliamentary constituency, following the voting in 15 assembly segments on April 19 in phase one. Four candidates are vying for the Outer Manipur seat.
Prominent candidates in phase two include Rahul Gandhi (Congress), Annie Raja (LDF), and K Surendran (BJP) contesting from Wayanad in Kerala. In Thiruvananthapuram, Shashi Tharoor (Congress), Rajeev Chandrasekhar (BJP), and Pannian Raveendran (LDF) are among the contenders.
In Rajasthan, the outgoing Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is contesting from Kota, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat from Jodhpur, and BJP State President C P Joshi from Chittorgarh.
The Lok Sabha polls will be conducted in seven phases, commencing on April 19.
