New Delhi: The fate of BJP national president Amit Shah and Congress president Rahul Gandhi will be decided in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Tuesday.
This phase will see the maximum number of seats going to the polls — 117 across 15 states and Union Territories.
It will also be a test for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which will aim to defend the maximum number of 62 seats.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had won 62 of the 115 seats in the third phase, and its performance in this phase will be crucial in deciding its political fortunes.
The Congress had won 16 seats, while the remaining seats were divided between BJD (6), CPI-M (7), NCP (4), Samajwadi Party (3), Shiv Sena (2), RJD (2), AIUDF (2), IUML (2), LJP (1), PDP (1), RSP (1), Kerala Congress-M (1), CPI (1), Swabhimani Paksha (1) and Trinamool Congress (1). Three seats were won by Independent candidates.
This time the BJP will be tested in its bastion Gujarat — where polling will be held for all the 26 Lok Sabha seats in the state — apart from Karanataka, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh, where the party had done well in 2014. Party president Amit Shah is contesting from the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat.
In 2014, the BJP won all the 26 seats in Gujarat, 11 of 14 in Karnataka, 8 of 10 in Uttar Pradesh, 6 of 7 in Chhattisgarh, 6 of 14 in Maharashtra, both the seats in Goa and one seat each in Assam, Bihar, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
In Odisha, the third phase of elections will witness a battle between several political heavyweights as well as former bureaucrats.
Puri will witness a triangular fight between spokespersons of three major political parties, as two-time sitting MP and BJD spokesman Pinaki Mishra will cross swords with BJP’s national spokesperson Sambit Patra and state Congress media cell Chairman Satya Prakash Nayak. Dhenkanal is also expected to witness a triangular fight.
In Karnataka, the BJP is considered to have a strong footing in many of the 14 seats going to the polls on Tuesday. However, the saffron party faces a tough challenge from the Congress-JD-S combine.
The Congress will look to swell its tally in Kerala with Rahul Gandhi in the fray from Wayanad. The party had won 8 of the 20 seats in 2014 while a few more were won by its allies. The BJP too is seeing a realistic chance to win four seats in the southern state.
The BJP faces a strong challenge in Uttar Pradesh, as the third phase of Lok Sabha elections will be fought in the “Yadav” belt.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) strongholds of Mainpuri, Badaun and Sambhal will go to the polls on Tuesday and the party’s prospects have received a considerable boost following its alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). The Congress too is also likely to cut into BJP votes.
In Maharashtra, the third phase of polling will be held in some NCP strongholds, including Baramati, Madha, Kolhapur and Satara. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) President Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule is contesting from the party’s bastion in Baramati.
In Chhattisgarh, the BJP has tried to beat the anti-incumbency sentiments against its sitting MPs by replacing all of them. Here the saffron party faces a renewed challenge from the Congress, which returned to power in the state in 2018 after 15 years. The Congress is focusing more on local issues, telling the voters that its government has quickly delivered on its promises.
Of the five seats in Bihar, the BJP had won only one in 2014 and it is again contesting one seat this time. Janata Dal (United), the BJP’s ally in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), is contesting three seats while the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) is contesting one seat.
In the four constituencies of lower Assam that will go to the polls on Tuesday, both the Congress and the All India United Democratic Front ((AIUDF) are seeking to gain votes by targeting the BJP over its stance in support of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.
In the four constituencies of lower Assam that will go to the polls on Tuesday, both the Congress and the All India United Democratic Front ((AIUDF), are seeking to gain votes by targeting the BJP over its stance in support of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.
