New Delhi: The nine-phased general elections enters the most crucial phase of polling on Thursday with about 166.1 million voters set to decide the fate of 1,769 candidates including several stalwarts.
Thursdayu’s voting is expected to set the trend for the remaining four phases which are slated to end on May 12 with the counting of votes to take place on May 16.
Of the 121 seats in the fray in today’s polling, the ruling Congress party had won 36 seats in the 2009 polls, while its arch-rival and strong contender for power Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged victorious on 40.
By the end of the day, India would have voted for 232 of the 543 seats in the fray so far.
Among the prominent candidates in the fray include a former prime minister, several former chief ministers, incumbent and former federal ministers.
Former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda of the Janata Dal (Secular) heads the pack of candidates in today’s polling. Among federal ministers whose fates would be sealed today include Veerappa Moily (Karnataka), Srikant Jena (Odisha), Jyotiraditya Scindia (Madhya Pradesh), Sachin Pilot (Rajasthan), Sushil Kumar Shinde (Maharashtra).
Among those from the opposition ranks include former federal ministers Jaswant Singh (Rajasthan), Shatrughan Sinha (Bihar), Maneka Gandhi (Uttar Pradesh), Arjun Sethi (Odisha), Subodh Kant Sahay (Jharkhand) and Ananth Kumar (Karnataka).
Other prominent candidates in fray include IT wizard Nandan Nilekani of the Congress party who is challenging Ananth Kumar of BJP from South Bengaluru seat of Karnataka. Kumar has won the seat five times in the past.
There are also relatives of prominent leaders including the Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule, Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad Yadav’s daughter Misa Bharti and former federal minister Yashwant Sinha’s son Jayant Sinha.
However, all eyes would be fixed on Bangalore South, Patliputra, Barmer and Darjeeling seats for different reasons. If Nilekani is taking on Ananth Kumar in what is considered a BJP bastion South Bangalore,
Patliputra seat has become a prestige fight for the RJD chief Lalu Prasad who had lost this seat in 2009 to his erstwhile close aide Ranjan Yadav. He has fielded his eldest of the seven daughters Misa Bharti to take on the sitting MP Ranjan Yadav of the state’s ruling Janata Dal (United) and BJP’s Ram Kripal Yadav. Ram Kripal rebelled against Lalu after his claim for the Patliputra seat was ignored.
The Barmer seat of Rajasthan has generated lots of interest in national and international media with veteran BJP leader Jaswant Singh rebelling against the party and deciding to enter into the fray as an independent to take on the sitting Congress party MP Harish Choudhary and BJP’s official nominee Sonaram Choudhary.
The Darjeeling seat of West Bengal, represented in the outgoing Lok Sabha by Jaswant Singh, has become a matter of prestige for the West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
Banerjee, who is opposed to creation of Gorkhaland as a separate state, has fielded former Indian football star Baichung Bhutia as candidate of her Trinamool Congress, while the BJP has fielded its senior leader S.S. Ahluwalia who is being supported by those favouring creation of Gorkhaland.
