Phase 7 Face-Offs: Five big Lok Sabha fights to watch out for this Sunday!
As we enter the last phase of elections on May 19, there are many constituencies which will be at the centre of everyone’s gaze.
Let’s take a look at key contests which we need to watch out for in Lok Sabha 2019 Phase Seven polls:
1.). Gurdaspur, Punjab
Sunny Deol vs Sunil Kumar Jakhar
Ever since Sunny Deol has filed nominations, he has been roaming around Gurdaspur holding a dummy pump in his hand. But this face-off is certainly real and not reel-life, as Sunny should know. He has been campaigning in roadshows and has conspicuously avoided speaking on local issues. His counterpart, on the other hand, has been speaking only of ground-level issues concerning the constituency. In 2017, Jakhar won the by election, defeating his BJP rival by nearly 2 lakh votes. Jakhar had even invited Deol for an open debate — which Deol has studiously avoided.
2.). Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh
Anurag Thakur vs Ram Lal Thakur
The BJP has fielded their sitting MP from Hamirpur, Anurag Thakur, who is batting on the front foot with his strong speeches against the Congress. The Congress has fielded the sixty seven-year-old Ram Lal Thakur, who was first elected as an MLA in 1985 and has been a minister in the Himachal government thrice. The Congress leader was earlier pushed into the Lok Sabha contest from Hamirpur in 2004, and then, in 2007 Lok Sabha by-poll.
Hamirpur constituency, which the Congress has won only once in the past 30 years, has witnessed aggressive campaigning by both the Congress and the BJP this year. The constituency has been represented by the BJP since 1989, barring one election of 1996.
Anurag Thakur won his first election from this constituency in 2008 as the seat fell vacant with his father, Prem Kumar Dhumal, being sworn in as chief minister of Himachal Pradesh. During the 2009 elections, Thakur won quite comfortably. Then came the Modi wave in 2014 — where he won the seat without any hindrance. This time around, the fight is set to be close as the Congress is reportedly gaining lost ground and if they manage to pull off a win in Hamirpur, it will be a major upset.
3.). Jadavpur, West Bengal
Mimi Chakraborty vs Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya
The Jadavpur Parliamentary constituency comprises of seven assembly constituencies, and is a mix of urban and rural, rich and poor people.
The urban part comprises of Jadavpur and Tollygunge assembly constituencies, which have traditionally voted for the Left. The seat once dominated by the Left was captured by the Trinamool Congress for the first time in the 1998 Lok Sabha election. Trinamool’s Krishna Bose won against the Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Malini Bhattacharya by more than 98,000 votes. Mamata Banerjee herself was an MP from this particular seat, between 1984 and1989, when she was part of the Congress party.
This time, TMC has fielded Mimi Chakraborty, who is a household name in West Bengal after playing ‘Pupe’ in the Bengali TV show Gaaner Oparey. She made her film debut in 2012 with Baapi Bari Ja. On the other side, the CPI (M) has pinned all its hopes by fielding former Kolkata mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya. The Leftists are giving full support to Bhattacharya as they think that he is a true successor to the legacy of the galaxy of Parliamentarians from this constituency.
The Congress has not fielded any candidate from Jadavpur.
TMC won this seat in 2009 and 2014 — but will Mimi Chakraborty be able to fight against Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya who has been campaigning hard?
4.). Patna Sahib, Bihar
Shatrughan Sinha vs Ravi Shankar Prasad
Patna Sabhi: Will the political clash between two good friends see them singing, 'Ye dosti hum abhi chorenge?' (Source: PTI)
Shatrughan Sinha and Ravi Shankar Prasad are close friends — but they are fighting hard on local issues. Both of them have not made any personal remarks about each other. Sinha is not new to Patna Sahib constituency, he quite recently joined the Congress party after leading a Twitterati war against the BJP. Patna Sahib has been represented by Sinha twice — but on a BJP ticket.
The actor says that from day one, he has been working hard for the people of this area and that’s one of the reasons that a hospital has also come up here. To counter Sinha, the BJP has fielded Ravi Shankar Prasad who is a leading minister in Modi’s government. Both the candidates were ministers in the Vajpayee government. Ravi Shankar Prasad has been camping in Patna Sahib ever since the elections started and says that the Congress does not have any standing in this constituency.
Will star power work or will this election create bitterness amongst two friends?
5.). Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
Narendra Modi vs Shalini Yadav
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is contesting from Varanasi, a seat he had won with over 5.8 lakh votes last time. It seems that it will be a cakewalk for Modi, the roadshow which he took out to file his nomination papers certainly giving that impression. Modi is fighting against Shalini Yadav, an SP candidate who recently joined Akhilesh Yadav's party quitting the Congress. Yadav says that with the support of SP-BSP, she will be able to defeat the BJP.
But to make her fight even tougher, the Congress has fielded Ajay Rai who took out a huge roadshow with Priyanka Gandhi on Wednesday evening.
Shalini Yadav spoke with DailyO and said: “I am not here to contest elections but to win. I will defeat Modi.”
The fight might not be that close — but surely one to watch out for.