It’s D-Day for India. The counting of votes for the Lok Sabha election has begun. The Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance is eyeing a third term. For the Opposition, which has come together, under the INDIA bloc the stakes are higher.
As results start to trickle in, we look at some of the big contests.
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Varanasi: Narendra Modi vs Ajay Rai
Prime Minister Narendra Modi contested the Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi for the third time. In 2014, he defeated AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal and won against Samajwadi Party’s Shalini Yadav in 2019.
The Congress fielded Ajay Rai, also its candidate from the constituency in 2014 and 2019. Before Narendra Modi, the Varanasi seat was held by BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi.
Rae Bareli: Rahul Gandhi vs Dinesh Pratap Singh
Rahul Gandhi contested the Lok Sabha poll from Rae Bareli against BJP’s Dinesh Pratap Singh . He has been an MP thrice from Amethi and was defeated in 2019 by sitting MP Smriti Irani.
The seat, which until February was held by his mother Sonia Gandhi, has remained with the Congress since 1952 barring three elections – 1977, (Janata Party), 1996 and 1999 (BJP). Now there is growing speculation if Rahul will be able to keep the legacy alive.
Wayanad: Rahul Gandhi vs Annie Raja
The Gandhi scion is facing CPI leader and women’s rights activist Annie Raja, as he seeks a second term from Wayanad in Kerala. The contest has garnered great interest, especially since both the Congress and CPI are members of the INDIA alliance, reports PTI.
In 2019, Gandhi won from the Wayanad constituency after he defeated PP Suneer of the CPI by a massive margin of 4.31 lakh votes.
Amethi: Smriti Irani vs Kishori Lal Sharma
Amethi, once the pocket borough of the Gandhi family, has seen fierce contests in the last two Lok Sabha polls. While BJP’s Smriti Irani, who wrested the seat from Rahul Gandhi in 2019, is seeking a re-election from the constituency, the Congress fielded Kishori Lal Sharma , a close aide of the Gandhi family.
This is for the first time in 25 years that a Gandhi family member did not contest election from Amethi Lok Sabha seat.
Thiruvananthapuram: Shashi Tharoor vs Rajeev Chandrasekhar
Sitting MP and former Union minister Shashi Tharoor is seeking a re-election from Thiruvananthapuram for a fourth consecutive term. He is up against BJP leader and Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who made his Lok Sabha poll debut and wants to open the saffron party’s account in Kerala.
The other prominent leader in the fray is CPI’s Pannyan Raveendran, who had won the elections from the constituency in 2005.
Baharampur: Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury vs Yusuf Pathan
Former cricketer Yusuf Pathan was fielded by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) from the Baharampur constituency in West Bengal, a Congress stronghold currently held by its Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
Chowdhury, the West Bengal Congress unit president, has represented Baharampur five times as an MP since he was first elected from the seat in 1999. He is gearing up to seek a sixth term from the constituency.
New Delhi: Bansuri Swaraj vs Somnath Bharti
BJP has replaced two-time MP and minister of state Meenakshi Lekhi from this seat with Bansuri Swaraj, daughter of late Union minister Sushma Swaraj. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) fielded Malviya Nagar MLA Somnath Bharti.
With the Congress and AAP contesting the Lok Sabha polls in alliance in the national capital, the contest in the high-profile constituency has acquired added significance and urgency.
Rajnandgaon: Bhupesh Baghel vs Santosh Pandey
Congress fielded its former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel from the Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha seat in Chhattisgarh, a BJP bastion for more than three decades and seen as the turf of its former three-time chief minister Raman Singh. He is locked in a contest with BJP’s sitting MP Santosh Pandey. The BJP hasn’t lost this seat since 2009.
The Congress has put one of its strong candidates with the hope to break the convention and win from the BJP’s stronghold.
Churu: Rahul Kaswan vs Devendra Jhajharia
Two-time MP from Churu Rahul Kaswan resigned from BJP ahead of the polls and was fielded by the Congress from the same seat. He is pitted against paralympic champion Devendra Jhajharia who contested the election from BJP.
Padma Bhushan javelin thrower, Jhajharia is a two-time paralympics gold medallist and one-time silver medallist.
Chhindwara: Nakul Nath vs Vivek Sahu
Vivek ‘Bunty’ Sahu, who unsuccessfully contested the 2023 Assembly election against former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath, challenged the Congress veteran’s son and sitting MP Nakul Nath in the Lok Sabha elections. Nakul Nath is seeking re-election from Chhindwara which has been Congress stronghold for more than four decades.
Kamal Nath has been a nine-time MP from here.
Shivamogga: K S Eshwarappa vs BY Raghavendra
The Shivamogga Lok Sabha seat in Karnataka is considered the fortress of former chief minister B S Yediyurappa’s family. However, this time it is all set for a dramatic contest.
BJP senior leader and OBC face KS Eshwarappa is contesting as an independent candidate against party veteran B S Yediyurappa’s son B Y Raghavendra for the Shivamogga Lok Sabha seat.
With inputs from PTI
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