New Delhi, Apr 24: Electioneering reaches a feverish pitch as campaigning for the second phase of elections in 137 Lok Sabha constituencies in 11 states draws to a close today evening.
At 5 pm today, campaigning guns will fall silent in 32 of 80 Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, 24 of 48 seats in Maharashtra, 21 out of 42 in Andhra Pradesh, 17 of 40 seats in Bihar, 13 of 28 in Karnataka, 10 of 21 in Orissa, eight each in Assam and Jharkhand, two in Goa and one each in Manipur and Jammu and Kashmir.

The April 26 polls will also cover the second and final phase of assembly elections in 147 of 294 constitutencies in Andhra Pradesh, 104 out of 224 seats in Karnataka and 70 out of 147 seats in Orissa.

Election to the 14th Lok Sabha are scheduled for five dates stretching between April 20 and May 10. Polls for 140 seats were held on April 20 and April 22 in Tripura (2). The last two rounds will be held on May 5 and May 10. Counting will be taken up on May 13.

Prominent personalities, whose fate would be decided on April 26, include Congress president Sonia Gandhi from Rae Bareli, Rahul Gandhi from Amethi and several union ministers including Defence Minister George Fernandes (Muzaffarpur) and Civil Aviation Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy who takes on former Bihar chief minister Laloo Prasad Yadav in Chapra.

Bureau Report