18.4.09

Second Phase snippets


The second phase of Lok Sabha elections on April 23 will witness 2,041 candidates in the fray for 141 seats spread across 13 states. Like the first phase, men candidates outnumber women. There are 1,920 men candidates and just 121 women. The BJP, contesting 113 seats, has the maximum 12 women candidates followed by Congress’ eight out of 117 candidates. The BSP is contesting 122 seats and has fielded five women candidates. Left parties — CPI contesting 17 seats and CPM 9 — and Lalu Prasad’s RJD do not have any woman candidate. NCP contesting 23 seats has three women candidates. Among state parties, Samajwadi Party is contesting the maximum of 44 seats with two women candidates. TDP contesting 20 seats has fielded two women candidates. The second phase will see the end of the election process in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Jharkhand, Orissa and Manipur. On an average, there are 14.48 candidates per constituency. In Karnataka, Bangalore Central constituency has the maximum of 37 candidates followed by 36 in Maharashtra’s Pune. NCP leader Sharad Pawar might have vacated his pocketborough Baramati for daughter Supriya Sule but it has attracted seven women candidates, the largest in the second phase. There are 377 candidates in the 25 constituencies where voting will take place in Maharashtra on April 23. In UP, there are 324 candidates for 17 seats, in Andhra Pradesh 254 for 20 seats, and 271 candidates for 17 seats in Karnataka. In Jharkhand, 164 candidates would be testing their luck for eight seats whereas in neighbouring Bihar, 189 candidates are in the fray for 13 seats.

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