As many as 1,210 candidates across 88 parliamentary constituencies in 13 states and union territories will be in the fray in the second phase of the Lok Sabha general elections to be held on April 26, according to Election Commission of India data.
This includes 1,206 candidates from 12 states and union territories along with four candidates from the Outer Manipur parliamentary constituency.
In Assam, voting will be held in the five constituencies - Darrang-Udalguri, Diphu (ST), Karimganj, Silchar (SC), and Nagaon - with a total of 61 candidates in the fray. The most number of candidates, that is, 24, will be contesting from Karimganj, while the least will be from Diphu at 5. Voting will begin at 7 am and will go on till 5 pm.
According to the ECI, a total of 2,633 nominations were filed for the 88 seats heading to polls in the second phase with the most nominations filed from Kerala at 500 for the 20 constituencies.
However, after scrutinizing the nominations, as many as 1,428 were found to be invalid and as such, they were cancelled bringing the number down to 1,210. While the last date to file nominations was April 4, the last date to withdraw nominations was April 8.
Kerala was followed closely behind by Karnataka where 491 nominations were received form the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies. On the other hand, Tripura stood out as the state with the least nominations in the second phase at 14 which came down to nine candidates following the withdrawal of the nominations.
Meanwhile, Mahrashtra's 16-Nanded constituency received the most of 92 nominations for a single parliamentary constituency.
Here is the breakdown at a glance for the second phase of Lok Sabha elections:
| State/UT | Number of PCs | Nominations Received | Valid Candidates after Scrutiny | Final Candidates after Withdrawal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assam | 5 | 118 | 62 | 61 |
| Bihar | 5 | 146 | 55 | 50 |
| Chhattisgarh | 3 | 95 | 46 | 41 |
| Jammu and Kashmir | 1 | 37 | 23 | 22 |
| Karnataka | 14 | 491 | 300 | 247 |
| Kerala | 20 | 500 | 204 | 194 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 7 | 157 | 93 | 88 |
| Maharashtra | 8 | 477 | 299 | 204 |
| Rajasthan | 13 | 304 | 191 | 152 |
| Tripura | 1 | 14 | 14 | 9 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 8 | 226 | 94 | 91 |
| West Bengal | 3 | 68 | 47 | 47 |
| Total | 88 | 2633 | 1428 | 1206 |
While 15 assembly constituencies in Outer Manipur parliamentary constituencies voted in the first phase on April 19, 13 assembly constituencies will vote on Friday in the second phase. There are 4 contesting candidates from Outer Manipur PC.
In the first phase of polling concluded on April 19, there were 1,625 contesting candidates across 21 states and union territories with 1,491 male candidates and 134 female candidates.