Lok Sabha elections 2019: A look at key contests of phase 5
The fifth phase of the seven-phase general elections will take place on May 6 to choose 51 members of the Lok Sabha across seven states. A look at some of the key contests
The fifth phase of the seven-phase general elections will take place on May 6 to choose 51 members of the Lok Sabha across seven states. A look at some of the key contests:
UTTAR PRADESH
DHAURAHRA
IN THE RING: Rekha Verma (BJP), Jitin Prasada n (Congress), Arshad Siddiqui (BSP)
QUICK TAKE: Congress’s Jitin Prasada was the n first MP to represent the constituency, created in 2009, in the Lok Sabha but slipped to fourth place in 2014. It will be a triangular contest between the BJP, SP-BSP alliance and the Congress. The combined vote share of the SP and BSP was 10 percentage points higher than the BJP’s 33% vote share last time.
2014 RESULT: BJP’s Rekha Verma defeated BSP’s n Daud Ahmed by 125,000 votes.
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LUCKNOW
IN THE RING: Rajnath Singh (BJP), Acharya n Pramod Krishnam (Congress), Poonam Sinha (SP)
QUICK TAKE: Many consider victory a foregone n conclusion for home minister Rajnath Singh. Lucknow is a seat the BJP hasn’t lost in the last seven Lok Sabha elections. The SP and BSP have never won the seat and the last time the Congress won it was in 1984. The presence of Krishnam and Sinha, wife of Bollywood actor Shatrughan Sinha who recently joined the Congress, have made the poll interesting.
2014 RESULT: BJP’s Rajnath Singh defeated n Congress’s Rita Bahuguna Joshi by 272,000 votes. RAE BARELI
IN THE RING: Sonia Gandhi (Congress), Dinesh n Pratap Singh (BJP)
QUICK TAKE: UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, who n has won the seat four times in a row, is locked in a straight fight with the BJP’s Dinesh Pratap Singh.The SP and BSP haven’t fielded a candidate in the race for Rae Bareli.
2014 RESULT: Sonia Gandhi defeated BJP’s Ajay n Agarwal by 352,000 votes. It was the highest victory margin in UP in 2014.
AMETHI
IN THE RING: Rahul Gandhi (Congress), n Smriti Irani (BJP)
QUICK TAKE: Amethi has been a prestigious n Congress seat the party lost only twice — once to Janata Party in 1977 and then to the BJP in 1998. Congress president Rahul Gandhi is looking for a fourth straight victory in Amethi, but Union minister Smriti Irani is posing a tough fight. Despite losing the contest in 2014, she continued to visit Amethi and campaign in the constituency.
2014 RESULT: Congress’s Rahul Gandhi defeated n BJP’s Smriti Irani by 100,000 votes.
BAHRAICH (RESERVED)
IN THE RING: Savitri Bai Phule (Congress), n Akshaywar Lal Gaur (BJP), Shabbir Ahmed Balmiki (SP)
QUICK TAKE: Sitting BJP MP Savitri Bai Phule n turned against the party and has been accusing it of being anti-Dalit for the past year. She recently joined the Congress. Now, the bipolar fight of 2014 has turned into a triangular one. Shabbir Ahmed Balmiki also has the support of BSP, his party’s alliance partner.
2014 RESULT: BJP’s Savitri Bai Phule defeated SP’s n Shabbir Ahmed Balmiki by 95,000 votes.
RAJASTHAN
JAIPUR RURAL
IN THE RING: Krishna Poonia (Congress), n Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (BJP), Virender Singh Bidhuri (BSP)
QUICK TAKE: Rajyavardhan Rathore, the n incumbent BJP MP and Olympic shooting silver medallist, is confronting another Olympian, Krishna Poonia. Poonia is the Congress MLA from Sadulpur in Churu district. Congress has fielded her because there are a large number of Jat voters in the constituency.
2014 RESULT: BJP’s Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore n defeated Congress’s CP Joshi by 332,896 votes.
NAGAUR
IN THE RING: Jyoti Mirdha (Congress), Hanuman n Beniwal (RLTP)
QUICK TAKE: The BJP did not field its incumbent n MP, CR Choudhary, entering into a tie-up with the fledgling Rashtriya Loktantrik Party, which won three seats in the December 2018 state election. RLTP’s founder Hanuman Beniwal was in the BJP earlier but quit after differences with Vasundhara Raje. In the 2014 general election, Beniwal bagged 159,980 votes as an Independent. Nagaur is a Jat-dominated seat and both Mirdha and Beniwal are Jats.
2014 RESULT: BJP’s CR Choudhary defeated n Congress’s Jyoti Mirdha by 75,218 votes.
ALWAR
IN THE RING: Bhanwar Jitendra Singh (Congress), n Balak Nath (BJP), Imran Khan (BSP)
QUICK TAKE: Alwar had a by-election in February n 2018 after incumbent BJP MP Mahant Chand Nath died. Karan Singh Yadav of the Congress won the by-election but the party has this time fielded Bhanwar Jitendra Singh, who contested the 2014 general election and lost. The BJP has fielded Chand Nath’s successor Balak Nath. Like Chand Nath, Balak Nath is an outsider to Alwar and is based in Haryana’s Rohtak district. The party fielded him because of a large number of Yadav electors in the constituency.
2014 RESULT: BJP’s late Chand Nath defeated n Congress’s Jitendra Singh by 283,895 votes.
BIHAR
SARAN
IN THE RING: Rajiv Pratap Rudy (BJP), Chandrika Rai (RJD)
QUICK TAKE: All eyes are on Saran because Lalu n Prasad’s relative Chandrika Rai, father in-law of his eldest son Tej Pratap Yadav, and former Union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy are in the fray. Saran was represented by Lalu Prasad in 2009 but in 2014, Rudy defeated his wife Rabri Devi. Lalu Prasad had then been barred from contesting the poll following his conviction in a corruption case.
2014 RESULT: BJP’s Rajiv Pratap Rudy defeated n RJD’s Rabri Devi by 40,948 votes.
HAJIPUR
IN THE RING: Pashupati Paras (LJP),Shiv Chandra Ram (RJD)
QUICK TAKE: Although Lok Janshakti Party n president and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan is not contesting this time, he faces a big test in his Hajipur bastion where his brother, Pashupati Paras, is in the race. Barring 1984, 1991 and 2009, Paswan has been representing this constituency since 1977.
2014 RESULT: LJP’s Ramvilas Paswan defeated n Sanjeev Prasad Toni of the Congress by a margin of 225,500 votes.
WEST BENGAL
BARRACKPORE
IN THE RING: Dinesh Trivedi (TMC), Arjun Singh n (BJP), Gargi Chatterjee (CPI-M), Mohammed Alam (Congress)
QUICK TAKE: This low-key constituency is the n arena for one of Bengal’s most high-profile contests as four-time Trinamool Congress MLA Arjun Singh switched to the BJP soon after TMC re-nominated its two-time Barrackpore MP and former railway minister Dinesh Trivedi to contest the seat. This has become a prestige fight for TMC as Singh, who is an MLA from Bhatpara since 2001, has influence across Barrackpore constituency. Barrackpore being part of the declining Hooghly industrial belt, both TMC and BJP are accusing each other of doing nothing for jute and other business units. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) is accusing both of “betraying the people” and engaging “in politics of money and muscle.” Both PM Modi and CM Mamata Banerjee have campaigned here.
2014 RESULT: TMC’s Dinesh Trivedi defeated n CPI-M’s Subhashini Ali by 206,773 votes.
JHARKHAND
KODERMA
IN THE RING: Babulal Marandi (JVM-P) , n Annapurna Devi (BJP) and Raj Kumar Yadav (CPI-ML)
QUICK TAKE: Jharkhand Vikas Morcha n (Prajatantrik) chief Babulal Marandi is contesting as a joint candidate of the opposition alliance. The BJP has dropped sitting MP Ravindra Kumar Ray and fielded Annapurna Devi, former minister and state president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal. Marandi, the only tribal leader in the state contesting a general seat, has won Koderama thrice — 2004, 2006 (by-election) and 2009. Devi, a former four-term legislator from Koderma, joined the BJP days ahead of her candidacy being declared. The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) legislator from Rajdhanawar, Rajkumar Yadav, has made the contest triangular. Yadav emerged runner-up in 2014, when Marandi could only secure the third position.
2014 RESULT: BJP’s Ravindra Kumar Ray defeated n CPI-ML’s Rajkumar Yadav by 98,654 votes.
KHUNTI (SCHEDULED TRIBE)
IN THE RING: Arjun Munda (BJP), Kalicharan n Munda (Congress)
QUICK TAKE: Khunti is a BJP stronghold as it has n been represented by former Lok Sabha deputy speaker Karia Munda eight times. The BJP has rested Karia Munda this time and fielded ex-CM Arjun Munda. The situation is tough for the BJP in this tribal- and Chirstian-dominated seat due to the Pathalgadi movement, which asserts the right of the local population to administer their own areas, and the state government’s legislation to check religious conversions. The Congress has fielded Kalicharan Munda, brother of BJP minister Neelkanth Munda.
2014 RESULT: BJP’s Karia Munda defeated n Jharkhand Party’s Enoss Ekka by 92,248 votes.
HAZARIBAGH
IN THE RING: Jayant Sinha (BJP), Gopal Sahu (Congress)
QUICK TAKE: Jayant Sinha is looking for a second n term from Hazaribag, which was earlier represented by his father Yashwant Sinha. Congress has fielded Gopal Sahu, brother of Rajya Sabha member Dhiraj Sahu. Gopal Sahu is a member of the state’s famous Sahu family, one of the most renowned business families based in Ranchi. The elder brother of the duo, Shiv Prasad Sahu, also represented Ranchi in the Lok Sabha.
2014 RESULT: BJP’s Jayant Sinha defeated n Congress’s Saurabh Narayan Singh by 159,128 votes.
MADHYA PRADESH
TIKAMGARH (SC)
IN THE RING: Virendra Kumar (BJP), Kiran Ahirwar n (Congress) and RD Prajapati (SP)
QUICK TAKE: Sitting MP Virendra Kumar, 65, who n is the Union minister of state for women and child development, faces a tough fight given the anti-incumbency factor and Congress dubbing him an outsider. Kumar has been winning Lok Sabha elections since 1996. The Tikamgarh seat, a part of Bundelkhand region, was created in 2009 and Kumar won it both in 2009 and 2014. Congress has relied on Kiran Ahirwar, 47, who is a new face in the electoral battle. Ahirwar is a secretary of the MP Mahila Congress. Samajwadi Party has fielded RD Prajapati, 56, an ex-MLA who joined the party three weeks ago. Prajapati was denied a ticket in last year’s assembly elections by the BJP, which chose his son instead.
2014 RESULT: BJP’s Virendra Kumar defeated n Congress’s Kamlesh Verma Ahirwar by 208,731 votes
JAMMU & KAHSMIR
LADAKH
IN THE RING: Rigzin Spalbar (Congress), Jamyang n Tsering Namgyal (BJP), Asgar Ali Karbalai and Sajjad Hussain (Independents).
QUICK TAKE: The constituency comprises the n districts of Leh and Kargil. Kargil district consists of two assembly segments, Kargil and Zanskar, while Leh district comprises the Nubra and Leh assembly segments. It is a four-way contest being fought on religious lines.
2014 RESULT: BJP’s Thupsun Chewang defeated n Congress’s Ghulam Raza by a mere 36 votes.
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