Polling began on Wednesday in 89 seats across seven states and two Union Territories — Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu — in the seventh phase of the staggered Lok Sabha elections.
Of these 89 seats going to polls, the Congress had won 37 in 2009; the BJP 21; the Trinamool Congress and the Janata Dal (United) five each; the CPI(M), Shiromani Akali Dal and the Samajwadi Party four each.
It is a make or break day for many political big guns – some of them making their electoral debut. Round 7 of the nine-phase LS polls has Congress president Sonia Gandhi, a number of BJP bigwigs, including prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, patriarch LK Advani, chief Rajnath Singh and senior leader Arun Jaitley, facing the voter test.
For Modi, stakes are high. In running from Vadodara, he makes his Lok Sabha poll debut and is also aiming for a clean sweep in his home state. A BJP victory in all the 26 seats in Gujarat will strengthen his position and silence detractors within the party. Advani, whose sudden wish to contest from Bhopal had caused some unease in the party, is a candidate for capital Gandhinagar. In the 2009 elections, the BJP had won 17 seats and the Congress nine.
There is also a high-voltage battle in Punjab. The ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-BJP combine faces a strong contender in anti-incumbency. The SAD is also battling charges of patronising a thriving drug racket in the border state where addiction is huge problem and a major poll issue.
Rivals have accused senior party leaders and ministers of being part of the multi-crore illicit trade. The Aam Aadmi Party may make its presence felt in some seats.
The holy city of Amritsar is being watched closely where BJP’s Jaitley, who is making his poll debut, and former CM and senior Congress leader Capt Amarinder Singh are locked in a tight race.
At 71, senior Congress leader Ambika Soni is fighting her first electoral battle from Anandpur Sahib, another town held sacred by Sikhs. The Congress had won eight of the 13 seats in the state in 2009.
A keen contest is expected between the Congress and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) on all the 17 Lok Sabha and 119 assembly seats in the Telangana region, which on June 2 will become the country’s 29th state.
While the Congress is claiming credit for fulfilling the long-standing demand for a separate state, the TRS is publicising its “sacrifices”. The TDP-BJP alliance is also eyeing some seats in this part of undivided Andhra Pradesh.
Fourteen seats are being contested in Uttar Pradesh. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi is seeking a third straight term from Rae Bareli. A high-pitched campaign in the constituency saw her daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra taking on the BJP and Modi for repeated attacks on husband Robert Vadra over his alleged land deals.
In the state capital Lucknow, BJP chief Rajnath Singh is looking to claim the legacy of former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee who once described the constituency as his political ‘karambhoomi’. Singh faces Congress’ Rita Bahuguna Joshi.
Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, moved from Varanasi to make way for Modi, is up against sitting MP and coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal in Kanpur.
Election to seven constituencies in neighbouring flood-hit north Bihar will be crucial for the state’s three major formations -- Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal-Congress combine and the BJP-Lok Janshakti Party alliance.
Veteran parliamentarian and JD (U) president Sharad Yadav, whose party ended its 17-year-old alliance with the BJP over Modi, is in the race from Madhepura.
In West Bengal, BJP’s Chandan Mitra is seeking his first Lok Sabha term from Hooghly as nine seats go to the polls.
In Jammu and Kashmir, polling will be held for the key Srinagar seat featuring Union minister and National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, father of chief minister Omar Abdullah.
A big fight has erupted between the Abdullahs and Modi in the run-up to voting day over secularism and Article 370 (which grants special status to the state) of the Constitution. The BJP’s stated position is it will scrap Article 370 if it comes to power.
The fight in Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu is for one seat each. Both seats are with the BJP in the outgoing Lok Sabha.
When polling draws to a close on Wednesday, 438 Lok Sabha seats would have been voted for. The remaining 105 will go to the polls in two phases — May 7 and May 12. Counting will be held on May 16.
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Lok Sabha polls phase five: Key candidates
Here's a map for the constituencies going to polls on Wednesday. On searching, you will get details of all parties fighting from a constituency and key candidates there:
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