Mumbai, April 24 (UNI) Campaigning for second phase of the Lok Sabha elections due to be held on April 26 in eight constituencies of Vidarbha and Marathwada regions in Maharashtra will end on Wednesday evening.
These constituencies are Buldhana, Akola, Washim-Yawatmal, Wardha, Amravati, Hingoli, Nanded, and Parbhani.
A total of 204 candidates are trying their luck in these eight Lok Sabha constituencies.
On April 26, approximately 1.49 million voters will cast their votes in the second phase of the election.
BJP national president J P Nadda, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, UBT chief Udhav Thackeray, Aditya Thackeray, NCP SCP chief Sharad Pawar, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge, MPCC president Nana Patole, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Dy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar, and VBA chief Prakash Ambedkar, among other state leaders, addressed election rallies during the campaigning period for their party candidates.
Bollywood actor Govinda, who recently joined Shinde Sena, organised a roadshow in Buldhana.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi is being addressed at an election rally this afternoon in Amravati.
In Buldhana constituency, sitting Shinde Sena MP Prataprao Jadhav is contesting the election against UBT nominee Narendra Khedkar.
In Wardha, BJP candidate and sitting MP Ramdas Tadas is facing NCP-SCP nominee Amar Kale.
In Akola, the BJP has fielded sitting Anup Dhotre, son of sitting BJP MP Sanjay Dhotre, who is pitted against VBA chief Adv Prakash Ambedkar and Congress candidate Abay Kashinath Patil.
In Amravati, Independent MP Navnit Rana is now contesting the election on a BJP ticket against Congress nominee Balwant Wankhede and Dinesh Bub of the Bacchu Kadu-led Prahar Party.
Rajshree Patil (Shinde Sena), wife of sitting Shinde Sena MP from Hingoli, Hemant Patil, is contesting the Washim-Yavatmal Lok Sabha seat against UBT nominee Sanjay Deshmukh on behalf of the MVA candidate.
Interestingly, Bhavana Gawali, a five-time Sena MP from this constituency, was given the rest this time.
In Nanded constituency of Marathwada constituency, BJP MP Pratap Patil Chiklikar is contesting the election against Congress nominee and former MLA Vasant Chavan.
Parbhani Rastriya Samaj Party (RSP) president Mahadev Jankar is contesting the election on behalf of Mahayuti candidate, who locked horns against sitting UBT MP Sanjay alias Bandu Jadhav.
While in Hingoli Constituency,Baburao Kadam (Shinde Sena) is pitted against UBT nominee Nagesh Patil Astikar.
Meanwhile, VBA, among other smaller parties and independents, also filed their candidates.
It may be noted that during the first phase of the Lok Sabha election, on average, 55 per cent of voters cast their votes in five Lok Sabha constituencies in the Vidharbha region of Maharashtra on April 19.
