Campaigning for the second phase of Lok Sabha elections in 8 seats of western UP and NCR ended at 6 pm on Wednesday.

Polling for the second phase will be held on 26 April from 7 am to 6 pm.

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Two Bollywood stars — Hema Malini from Mathura and Arun Govil from Meerut — will try their electoral fortunes in this phase.

Candidates pulled out all the stops to win over voters on the last day of the campaigning for the second phase.

While Hema Malini staged an impressive roadshow, other candidates opted for door-to-door campaigning. Senior leaders like BSP’s Mayawati and SP president Akhilesh Yadav held election meetings.

A total of 91 candidates, including 10 women, from UP are in the fray in the second phase of polls.

A maximum of 15 candidates each are vying for victory in Gautam Buddha Nagar and Mathura seats and a minimum of six candidates are trying their luck in Bulandshahr. Twelve candidates are contesting in Amroha, eight in Meerut, seven in Baghpat, and 14 each in Ghaziabad and Aligarh.

A staggering 1,67,77,198 voters will decide the fate of these candidates.

In this phase, 23% of the candidates are facing criminal cases, while 46% are crorepatis.

According to political experts, all eyes are on whether BSP MP Girish Chandra can thwart the attempt of sitting BJP MP Bhola Singh to secure a hat-trick of victories in the Bulandshahr seat.

The second phase will also determine whether BSP MP Kunwar Danish Ali, who switched from the ‘elephant’ symbol to the ‘panja’, will be able to replicate his past success on the Amroha seat.

The fate of Ghaziabad BJP MLA Atul Garg, who served as the Minister of State in the first term of the Yogi government, will also be decided in the second phase.

On Tuesday, all political parties went full throttle in their election campaigns. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh addressed a public meeting in Gautam Buddha Nagar to rally support for the BJP candidate.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath held public meetings in Amroha and Baghpat and also staged a roadshow in Meerut.

SP president Akhilesh Yadav held public meetings in Aligarh and Baghpat in support of his party candidates. BSP supremo Mayawati solicited public support for her party candidates in public meetings held in Aligarh and Meerut.

In this phase, the PM addressed election meetings in Meerut and Aligarh and held a roadshow in Ghaziabad.

The INDI alliance addressed a joint rally featuring Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav in Amroha and later held a joint press conference in Ghaziabad.

Meanwhile, CEO Navdeep Rinwa said that after the conclusion of the campaign, all political members from outside the constituency will have to leave the area immediately. He added that polling parties would leave for their respective booths on Thursday morning.