Rahul in fray from Kerala as India moves into second phase of polls

NEW DELHI: The second phase of Indian elections on Friday saw 88 constituencies in the fray, including Rahul Gandhi’s contest in communist-ruled Kerala.

Speculation is rife that he could return to Amethi in Uttar Pradesh to challenge BJP’s Smriti Irani. The cabinet minister defeated him in the traditional Gandhi family hub narrowly in 2019.

Alternate media claims Priyanka Gandhi will be the Congress candidate from the neighbouring Rae Bareli constituency after her mother Sonia Gandhi moved over to the Rajya Sabha.

A low voter turnout in Uttar Pradesh was below the 60 per cent overall voting in the second phase. Low voting is being seen as unfavourable for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the BJP’s bastion.

Modi appears to be in a bind against challenge from opposition alliance; Indian SC turns down opposition plea to make EVMs more transparent

Voters said they did not receive the usual voting slips or reminders from the RSS workers who otherwise shore up the BJP usually.

Mr Modi has veered between communal invective against Muslims and wooing Muslim women in the next meeting, announcing some Haj facilities for them. This is being seen as an indication that he is in a bind against a robust challenge from the INDIA alliance.

The election commission has issued a notice to the BJP president to explain Mr Modi’s controversial speeches. The Supreme Court has come to the rescue once again by turning down opposition demands to make the electronic voting machines more transparent.

Mr Modi on Friday demanded an apology from the opposition for “committing the sin of creating distrust” over EVMs. He was speaking at public rallies in Araria and Munger in Bihar when the Supreme Court’s order dismissing petitions came through.

“When the Congress, the [Rasht­riya Janata Dal] RJD and other INDIA alliance parties were in power, the poor, backwards and Dalits used to be deprived of their votes through booth capture. With the introduction of EVMs, they are no longer able to play their old game. Hence, they committed the sin of creating distrust against EVMs,” the prime minister alleged in Araria.

“The decision has exposed the Congress and other constituents of the opposition INDIA bloc,” he said, claiming that opposition parties had taken every opportunity to “defame” the Election Commission of India by raising questions on the credibility of EVMs.

As polling concluded for 88 seats across 13 states and Union Territories, Mr Modi expressed his gratitude to the voters. He said the second phase had been “too good”, adding that “the unparalleled support for NDA is going to disappoint the opposition even more”.

As per the election commission data, the average voter turnout stood at 60.96pc till 7pm, while the lone constituency going to polls in Tripura recorded the highest turnout with 78.53pc eligible voters casting their votes. The lowest turnout was recorded in Uttar Pradesh at 53.67pc.

A third of the total 543 Lok Sabha seats — including all the seats in Kerala, Rajasthan, Manipur and Tripura, and 14 of the 28 seats in Karnataka — have now completed polling.

There were a total 1,202 candidates in the fray. The Dalit Bhaujan Samaj Party, seen as a disruptor of opposition unity, has fielded the most candidates in this phase at 74, followed by the BJP at 69 and the Congress at 68. Congreess-ruled Karnataka, with 14 seats going to polls, had the most candidates at 247, followed by Maharashtra (8 seats) at 204 and Kerala (all its 20 seats) at 189.