NEW DELHI: Top reputations will be on the line on Monday when 96 Lok Sabha constituencies across nine states and the UT of Jammu and Kashmir vote in the fourth phase of the General Election, campaigning for which ended on Saturday.
The last of the southern belt Andhra Pradesh (all 25 Lok Sabha seats and all 175 Assembly seats) and all 17 parliamentary constituencies of Telangana will vote in the fourth phase capping the elections for the entire southern region which is key to the ruling BJP’s 400-plus seat target as the party had hit the peak in north and central India in 2019.
Besides, 13 segments of Uttar Pradesh, 11 of Maharashtra, eight each of Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, five of Bihar, four each of Odisha and Jharkhand, and Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir will also witness polling.
Prominent opposition stalwarts are in the fray with Samajwadi Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav contesting from Kannauj in UP; leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury from Bahrampur in Bengal, TMC’s expelled Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra from Krishnanagar and her party colleague Kirti Azad opposite former BJP Bengal chief Dalip Ghosh from Bardhaman Durgapur in Bengal.
Two former Cricket World Cup squad winners Yusuf Pathan (opposite Adhir) and Kirti Azad will test their mettle in Bengal on Monday as will Union ministers Giriraj Singh (Bihar’s Begusarai) and Raosaheb Danve and Bharati Pawar in Maharashtra.
For the BJP and the regional players the ruling YSRCP, TDP, Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena in Andhra, the ruling BJD in Odisha and the ruling JMM in Jharkhand the fourth phase will be crucial.
Of the 96 seats, the BJP and allies hold 47 in the outgoing Lok Sabha, regional players hold 35 and the INDIA bloc 14.
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home minister Amit Shah campaigning in the poll-going states of Odisha and Telangana on Saturday, the significance of the fourth phase is not lost on anyone.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi also campaigned in Maharashtra’s tribal segment of Nandurbar today. This came a day after the PM addressed a rally here in favour of BJP’s sitting MP Heena Gavit who is contesting again after ending the Congress’ uninterrupted victory run in the seat since the first Lok Sabha election.
Jharkhand and Odisha poll will commence from Monday with polling to be held for all of Odisha’s 21 Lok Sabha and 28 of the 147 Assembly segments.
The BJP will look to gain in Andhra where it has no MP, Odisha where it has eight out of 21 and Telangana where it has four in 17 MPs. The BJP is contesting Andhra in alliance with the TDP and Jana Sena.
Key contests are on the cards in Bengal’s Asansol where BJP’s SS Ahluwalia will take on TMC’s Shatrughan Sinha and Telangana’s Hyderabad seat where sitting strongman and MP Asaduddin Owaisi of the AIMIM is being challenged by BJP newcomer Madhavi Latha.
In Kadapa of Andhra Pradesh, former state Chief Minister YS Rajashekhar Reddy’s daughter and Congress’ Andhra chief YS Sharmila is fighting against cousin and sitting MP YS Avinash Reddy of the YSRCP, which her brother and Andhra CM YS Jaganmohan Reddy heads.
For the Congress, the Bahrampur seat in Bengal will be of particular importance as this is only one of the two Bengal segments it had won in the state in 2019.