Acid test for Congress, BJP in fifth phase of elections

The fate of Nandan Nilekani, H D Deve Gowda, Maneka Gandhi and Veerappa Moily will be sealed as polling is scheduled in 121 constituencies across 12 States.

April 16, 2014 04:33 pm | Updated May 21, 2016 11:50 am IST - New Delhi

Electronic Voting Machines being readied for distribution at different polling booths in Ranchi on Wednesday, as voting will be held in121 constituencies across 12 States in the fifth stage of Lok Sabha elections on Thursday. Photo Manob Chowdhury

Electronic Voting Machines being readied for distribution at different polling booths in Ranchi on Wednesday, as voting will be held in121 constituencies across 12 States in the fifth stage of Lok Sabha elections on Thursday. Photo Manob Chowdhury

Both the Congress and the BJP have huge stakes in the fifth phase of voting on Thursday in121 Lok Sabha constituencies across 12 States. This phase covers the largest number of Lok Sabha seats in an election spread over nine separate days from April 7 to May 12.

Between the two of them, 76 of the 121 seats (BJP 40 and Congress 36) are held by them. A book by Sanjay Baru, former Media Adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, which claims that Congress president Sonia Gandhi undermined the authority of Dr. Singh, has been seized by the principal Opposition party to launch a >no-holds barred attack against the Gandhi family, putting the ruling party on the defensive.

Among the >prominent faces who are in the fifth phase contest include >Nandan Nilekani (Cong), Maneka Gandhi, former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda (JD-S), Union Minister Veerappa Moily (Cong) and Srikant Jena, Supriya Sule and Lalu Prasad's eldest daughter Misa Bharti.

Karnataka, where all the 28 Lok Sabha constituencies would witness polling, would undoubtedly be the most exciting. In the State assembly election held 10 months ago, the Congress wrested power from the BJP which had succeeded for the first time in 2008 in forming the government in a southern State.

However, the May 2013 assembly election was a different ball game for the Congress as the BJP was in a very bad shape after the exit of former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa from the party. Now that he is back into the party fold, the Lok Sabha poll would not be the same for the Congress.

Karnataka is one State in the country where the popularity of BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi would be tested. It would be watched with keen interest as to how much difference he could make to the fortunes of his party, especially since the Congress had emerged victorious ten months ago.

Twenty of the 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in Rajasthan would be covered in Thursday’s poll. In the 2009 general election, the Congress had won 20 seats. However, its performance in the December State assembly election was disastrous. It is to be seen if the Congress could manage to recover some ground.

In Maharashtra, 19 of the 48 Lok Sabha constituencies are going to the polls. The >Congress-NCP alliance had won 25 seats in the 2009 election. After the split in the Shiv Sena, it would be interesting to watch how much difference the `Modi factor’ would make in the State.

Polling in 11 constituencies each in Odisha and Uttar Pradesh are scheduled for the fifth phase. In both the States, the BJP is making a determined effort to capture as many seats as possible. In Odisha, the party is looking to challenge the citadel of Biju Janata Dal (BJP) led by Navin Patnaik.

Bihar is another interesting State to watch where polling would be held for seven of the 40 seats. It is for the first time that the BJP is testing its fortunes on its own after the Janata dal (United) ended its 17-year-long alliance with the party.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.