Lok Sabha Election 2024: From Anil Antony to Prahlad Gunjal, Defectors in Phase-2 Polls

New Delhi: The round two of Lok Sabha elections, which will run through peak of summer until June 1, is underway in 88 seats and 13 states and Union Territories. 

Divided in seven phases, the 2024 Lok Sabha elections saw first phase of voting last friday for 102 seats and 21 states and Union Territories. The voter turnout was recorded at 65.5 per cent. 

In the second phase of polls, voting is underway for all 20 seats of Kerala, 14 of the 28 seats in Karnataka, 13 seats in Rajasthan, 8 seats each in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, 7 seats in Madhya Pradesh, 5 seats each in Assam and Bihar, 3 seats each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, and 1 seat each in Manipur, Tripura, and Jammu and Kashmir.

Lok Sabha Phase 2 Polls: Defectors in Fray 

Anil Antony, son of Congress leader AK Antony, jumped ship to BJP last year, and was announced as party's Lok Sabha candidate for Pathanamthitta seat in Kerala. He navigated the Congress' social media unit in Kerala before taking an unprecedented exit from the party.

Prahlad Gunjal, a former MLA who represented Kota-North seat in Rajasthan from 2013 to 2018, left the BJP and joined Congress after losing the 2023 Rajasthan Assembly Elections. The Congress has pitted the turncoat from Kota Lok Sabha seat in Rajasthan, against his former party colleague Om Birla. 

Rahul Lodhi, who left crossed over from the Congress, has been fieled as BJP candidate from the Damoh seat in Madhya Pradesh, which the saffron party hasn't lost since 1989. He is facing Congress' former MLA and candidate Tarvar Singh Lodhi. The seat was previously held by Prahlad Singh Patel, a state minister and a former Union Minister. 

C Raghunath, who served as a Congress member till December last year, is now the BJP candidate from the Kannur seat in Kerala. Making it a battle of prestige, the Congress has fielded its state chief K Sudhakaran from the segment. 

Get all Lok Sabha Elections 2024 Phase 2 LIVE updates here