Lok Sabha elections enter home stretch, voting in 64 seats in 7 states

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With the May 7 voting, the fate of candidates in 502 seats will be sealed in EVMs to be known on May 16.

In the eighth phase of the Lok Sabha election, 64 Lok Sabha seats are voting on Wednesday. The divided Andhra Pradesh with 25 seats will be voting in a single phase. It is also voting for the state assembly with 175 seats.

Two Himalayan states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand will also vote in the eighth phase while the remaining 2 seats in Jammu & Kashmir will vote in this phase. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal will also continue to vote where the battle is getting very tough for all the contenders.

The fate of 897 candidates including Congress's Rahul Gandhi, BJP leaders Varun Gandhi, Shanta Kumar, Major General BC Khanduri and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, RJD nominee Rabri Devi, YSR Congress Party leader YS Vijayalakshmi and Moon Moon Sen of the TMC will be decided by 9,55,22,471 voters at 1,07,430 polling stations. With the May 7 voting, the fate of candidates in 502 seats will be sealed in EVMs to be known on May 16.

Uttar Pradesh:

All eyes are on the Gandhi family bastion of Amethi. The sitting MP and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi is seeking a straight third term from here. Earlier, the voting was a mere formality for Gandhi family members in Amethi. But the situation seems to have changed in this election. According to ground reports Rahul Gandhi is facing the toughest ever election this time. He is pitted against Smriti Irani of the BJP and Kumar Vishwas of the AAP.

There are 34 candidates in the fray. But, the actual fight is between Rahul Gandhi, Smriti Irani and Kumar Vishwas. Amethi is one of the most backward Lok Sabha seats and the lack of development is causing a lot anxiety for Rahul Gandhi.

Rahul Gandhi's campaign was led by his younger sister Priyanka Gandhi and she created quiet a buzz across India by taking on Modi and BJP. BJP's PM nominee Narendra Modi broke the 'protocol' by not only campaigning, but also making the strongest attack on Gandhi family in Amethi.

AAP's Kumar Vishwas who has been campaigning in Amethi for the past four months, hopes to pull off a miracle.

Local political analysts and Congress workers feel that Rahul Gandhi may finally win from here for the third straight term but it will be a close fight.

The other Gandhi, Varun Gandhi of the BJP is contesting from neighbouring Sultanpur. He is invoking his late father Sanjay Gandhi's name in Sultanpur for votes. The Congress has fielded local strongman and MP Sanjay Singh's wife Amita Singh against Varun Gandhi. Varun Gandhi is banking more on his father's name than on Modi.

Uttarakhand

It is unusually hot in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand this summer. Even in the upper reaches, the temperature is rising. The political temperature is also rising across the state.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat, who took charge in last January, is facing a challenge of Himalayan proportions in this Lok Sabha election. In 2009, the Congress won all 5 Lok Sabha seats in the state by decimating the ruling BJP. This time the situation is not favourble for the Congress. It is facing a double anti-incumbency. State administration under Rawat's predecessor, Vijay Bahuguna was ineffective and turned the voters against the government. The anti-UPA mood is also worrying the Congress.

However, Harish Rawat, who is known as Congress's 'best bet' is still hoping that he can win at least 3 seats from the state.

He has fielded his wife Renuka Rawat from Haridwar, the seat held by him in the outgoing Lok Sabha. His wife is facing former chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank of the BJP. It is being seen as a direct fight between Harish Rawat and the BJP.

The BJP has fielded three former chief ministers from the state this time. Former chief minister and former union minister Major General BC Khanduri is contesting from Pauri-Garhwal Lok Sabha seat. He is facing Congress strongman Harak Singh Rawat. Rawat, a sitting MLA and a minister has been forced by the party to take on Khanduri, who is known for his clean image.

In Tehri-Garhwal, Saket Bahuguna, son former chief minister Vijay Bahunguna is trying his luck again. He lost the by-election from the same seat in 2012. The member of the erstwhile Garhwal royal family Mala Rajyalakshmi is BJP's sitting MP from here. She is seeking a re-election.

Neighbouring Kumaon region has two Lok Sabha seats. Almora and Nainital. Almora is Harish Rawat's native place and he is telling the voters that his post is at stake in this election.

Rawat has been extensively campaigning for his protege and sitting MP Pradeep Tamta. Wherever he goes, Rawat tells the voters that if they want him to continue as the Chief Minister, they must re-elect the Congress MP. The opposition BJP is accusing him of playing an emotional card.

In Nainital, the BJP has fielded former chief minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari. He is giving a tough fight to the Congress.

BJP's Prime Ministerial nominee Narendra Modi has campaigned in Uttarakhand. Both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have also campaigned for the Congress.

But on the ground the Congress's best bet and chief campaigner is Harish Rawat. The BJP is banking on Narendra Modi wave and the clean image of BC Khanduri.

Himachal Pradesh

The 'Queen' of the hill stations and 'God's own abode' Himachal Pradesh is witnessing a fierce Lok Sabha battle this time. Like the neighbouring Uttarakhand, the ruling Congress is facing a tough challenge also in Himachal Pradesh.

Chief Minister and veteran Congress leader Virbhadra Singh has turned it into a personal battle. He will have to win at least two of the total four seats in the state. His wife and sitting MP Pratibha Singh is seeking re-election from Mandi Lok Sabha seat. Virbhadra Singh has campaigned extensively even in the remote parts of the snow deserts of the constituency to ensure her victory.

But a keenly watched election is taking place in neighbouring Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat. Anurag Thakur, son of former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, is seeking re-election on the BJP ticket.

He is facing Kargil hero Param Vir Chakra Vikram Batra's mother Kamal Kant, who is contesting on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ticket. Addressing election meetings at Palampur, Mandi and Solan, Narendra Modi invoked Captain Batra's name several times. His use of Kargil martyr's oft-quoted phrase "yeh dil maange more" sparked a controversy with Batra's parents raising objections.

The BJP defended Modi saying the martyr's quote was not the family's property, but the Congress has attacked the BJP for insulting the war hero. Modi, at his first election rally in Palampur in Kangra district, the hometown of Captain Batra, said: "When we take the name of Maj. Somnath Sharma (the first recipient of the Param Vir Chakra, awarded posthumously for his bravery in the November 1947 Kashmir operations) and Vikram Batra, we feel proud. Our mind says - 'yeh dil maange more'. He used the phrase several times during his rallies in Himachal Pradesh to stir up the sentiments of the people of the hill state, where a large chunk of population comprises serving as well as retired servicemen.

Using the slogan, Modi urged the people to ensure that BJP gets 300 seats. "I ask you to make the lotus win with 300 seats because 'Yeh dil maange more' just like Vikram Batra, who gave his life for the country in the Kargil war," Modi said in Mandi later, donning a traditional Himachali cap.

Batra was awarded the Param Vir Chakra posthumously for his bravery in the Kargil war. He used 'yeh dil maange more' after a battle, which became very popular.

Modi's use of the slogan was disapproved of by the martyr's family, who said their son's sacrifice should not be politicised. Batra's father GL Batra, whose wife Kamal Kant is in the fray for the first time as an AAP candidate from Hamirpur seat, took strong offence to the use of "Yeh dil maange more" slogan for soliciting votes. "The BJP is just trying to take credit in politics at this point in time by politically using the slogan of a martyr," Batra said. Challenging Modi, he added, "If he is so indebted to the martyrs, he must withdraw his party's candidate against my wife." An emotional Kamal Kant, who is contesting against BJP's Anurag Thakur, said she was never approached by the BJP for the election. "Modi was in charge of the BJP in Himachal during the Kargil war. He was in Palampur when Vikram died. Why didn't he visit us or any martyr's family then? Why remember us after 15 years," she said.

"The AAP has honoured us by fielding me. We have never referred to Vikram's name or slogan in the election campaign, then who is the BJP to do it? It has never thought about the martyr earlier," she asks during her campaign.

The state capital Shimla, the 'Queen of Hill stations' is filled with an anxious air as Lok Sabha voting day approaches with the Congress and the BJP locked in a tough fight here. The Sitting MP Virender Kashyap of the BJP riding on the 'Modi wave'. The Congress has fielded Mohan Lal Brakta, Aam Aadmi Party has fielded Subhash Chander and the BSP has fielded Gautam Singh Koli.

The 63-year old Kashyap, 2009 won Shimla reserved for the SCs by a margin of about 27,000 votes. On the other hand, The Congress is trying to regain its traditional stronghold, which it ceded to the rival in 2009.

Former chief minister and BJP veteran Shanta Kumar is contesting from Kangra Lok Sabha seat. He is seeking votes telling the voters that it is his last election.

Jammu & Kashmir

India's largest Lok Sabha seat by size Ladakh will also be voting on Wednesday. But, it has just 1.5 lakh voters. According to 'Greater Kashmir' with the cold desert region of Ladakh, the largest constituency in India, going for polls on May 7 in the last phase of the parliamentary elections, the tricky politics of the place has spiced up the electoral contest.

Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are fielding candidates from Leh district of the parliamentary constituency which is also spread across the Kargil district. There are four assembly segments; two of them are the Muslim majority in Kargil held by National Conference and one each assembly seat of the Buddhist majority Leh district is held by the Congress while the other one by an independent.

While Congress is pitching for the former member of National Commission for Schedule Tribes Tsering Samphel, BJP has reposed faith in Ladakh Union Territory Front (LUTF) leader Thupstan Chewang.

Since both the candidate are Buddhists, the vote-bank of the community might stand divided.

West Bengal

There are 72 candidates contesting in six seats in West Bengal where Modi raised the emotive issue of illegal immigrants, drawing a sharp reaction from Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee who called the BJP PM candidate a "paper tiger" and accused him of stoking communal fire.

Modi hit back at Banerjee daring her to prove herself a "real tiger" by taking action against the culprits in the Saradha scam.

Pressure is on the Left Front in this round to retain the six seats it had won the last time as nine-time MP Basudeb Acharia, former actresses Moon Moon Sen and Sandhya Roy and singer Babul Supriyo are expected to give a tough fight.

Bihar

In Bihar, where 118 candidates are contesting, former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad's wife Rabri Devi is seeking to make her debut in the Lok Sabha from Saran, which is among the seven seats in the state going for polls on May 7. Rabri is pitted against BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Singh Rudy.

This round of elections in the Gangetic plains of Bihar will see crucial fight in Hajipur (SC) where LJP President Ramvilas Paswan is in the fray.

Five of the seven LS seats going to the polls on Wednesday had been won by JD (U) in 2009. Saran and Maharajganj went to RJD.

Andhra Pradesh

The most keenly watched battle is being fought in Andhra Pradesh. It has now become a fight between YS Jagan Mohan Reddy of the YSR Congress Party and N Chandrababu Naidu of the TDP. Even though the TDP has an alliance with the BJP, the main fight is between the YSRCP and the TDP.

The YSRCP is contesting in all 25 Lok Sabha seats and 175 assembly seats. The TDP has given 4 Lok Sabha and 13 Assembly seats to the TDP. The Congress is contesting in all the seats.

Jagan has fielded his mother YS Vijayalakshmi from Visakhapatnam against the AP BJP chief Haribabu. Jagan is contesting in the assembly election from family bastion Pulivendula in Kadapa district.

His main adversary N Chandrababu Naidu is contesting from Kuppam assembly seat in Chittoor district.

The Congress which is facing a rout has fielded Union minister Kishore Chandra Deo, M M Pallam Raju, Kotla Suryaprakash Reddy and Kriparani Killi in the Lok Sabha. Former chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, who quit the Congress over Telangana has fielded his candidates in over 150 assembly seats. He has fielded his younger brother in Pileru, his seat.

Key Candidates

Andhra Pradesh

YS Vijayalakshmi (Widow of Dr YSR Reddy) - YSR Congress Party - Visakhapatnam

T Haribabu - BJP - Visakhapatnam

D Purandeshwari - BJP - Rajampet

MM Pallamraju - Congress - Kakinada

Kishore Chandra Deo - Congress - Araku

AP Assembly

YS Jagan Mohan Reddy - YSR Congress Party - Pulivendula

N Chandrababu Naidu - TDP - Kuppam

Himachal Pradesh

Shanta Kumar - BJP - Kangra