The penultimate round of seven-phase Lok Sabha elections on May 12 will witness voting in 59 seats across seven states, among them being the national capital where fates of candidates on all seven seats will be sealed in the EVMs.

Among those in the ring in this phase of elections -- predominantly in northern states, barring West Bengal -- are Maneka Gandhi, Varun Gandhi, Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Dilip Ghosh, Meenakshi Lekhi (all BJP), Digvijaya Singh, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sheila Dikshit, Ajay Maken, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Kirti Azad (all Congress), Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party) and Manas Bhunia (Trinamool).

With just one more round to go for the Lok Sabha elections 2019 to conclude, all focus is now on May 23 when the votes will be counted.

Here’s a look at the key battles in the sixth phase of voting:

MADHYA PRADESH

Morena

In the ring: Narendra Singh Tomar (BJP), Ram Niwas Rawat (Cong)

Quick Take: Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, the sitting MP from Gwalior, was given ticket replacing Anoop Mishra, nephew of late prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. A prominent Congress leader of the area Ram Niwas Rawat, who lost the 2018 Assembly election from Vijaypur, has been given another chance by the party.

2014 result: Anoop Mishra had won by a margin of over 1.32 lakh votes defeating BSP’s Brindawan Singh Sikarwar and Congress’s Dr Govind Singh had come third.

Bhind

In the ring: Devashish Jarariya (Congress), Sandhya Ray (BJP)

Quick Take: BJP replaced Dr Bhagirath Prasad with Sandhya Ray, who is a former MLA from Dimni in neighbouring Morena. Congress’s Jarariya, a relatively new face, was a student leader of Delhi university and one of the faces of the Dalit movement after Supreme Court’s decision on SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.

2014 result: Dr Bhagirath Prasad of BJP beat Imarti Devi of Congress by a margin of nearly 1.59 lakh votes.

Gwalior

In the ring: Ashok Singh (Congress), Vivek Shejwalkar (BJP)

Quick Take: BJP has picked Vivek Shejwalkar, presently Gwalior mayor, replacing Narendra Singh Tomar. The Congress party has repeated Ashok Singh for the third time in a row. He had lost the 2009 elections to BJP’s Yashodhara Raje Scindia.

2014 result: Narendra Singh Tomar of the BJP defeated Ashok Singh of the Congress by a margin of over 29,700 votes.

Guna

In the ring: Jyotiraditya Scindia (Congress), K P Yadav (BJP)

Quick Take: Scindia has been winning this seat since 2002 and the area forms part of the erstwhile Gwalior estate of which he is the Maharaja. BJP’s K P Yadav , who was once with the Congress, is fighting parliamentary elections for the first time.

2014 results: Jyotiraditya Scindia defeated BJP’s Jaibhan Singh Pawaiya by 1.27 lakh votes.

Sagar

In the ring : Prabhu Singh Thakur (Congress), Raj Bahadur Singh (BJP)

Quick take: This seat has been a BJP stronghold since 1991, and this time both the parties have fielded new candidates. However, Singh is a known face as he is the current chairman of the Sagar municipality. Thakur was minister in the Digvijaya Singh government. He contested twice from Bina Assembly segment -- lost in 1990 and won in 1993.

2014 results: BJP’s Laxminarayan Yadav defeated Govind Singh Rajput of the Congress by a margin of over 1.2 lakh votes.

Vidisha

In the ring: Shailendra Patel of the Congress, Ramakant Bhargava of the BJP.

Quick take: This has been a traditional stronghold of the BJP and prominent leaders like Atal Bihari Vaypayee, Sushma Swaraj and former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan have represented this constituency. BJP has fielded Ramakant Bhargava, a surprise candidate who is from Shahganj, Sehore, and said to be close to former CM Chouhan. Congress candidate Shailendra Patel is former MLA from Icchapur in neighbouring Sehore district.

2014 elections: BJP’s Sushma Swaraj beat Lakshman Singh of the Congress by a margin of over 4.10 lakh votes.

Bhopal

In the ring: Digvijaya Singh (Congress), Sadhvi Pragya Thakur (BJP)

Quick Take: This is one of the most keenly-watched constituencies this election. It has been a traditional BJP stronghold where the party has been winning since 1989. Both Digvijaya Singh and Pragya Thakur, who is an accused in the Malegaon blast case, are new to this constituency. Digvijaya had earlier contested from neighbouring Rajgarh.

2014 elections: BJP’s Alok Sanjar defeated P C Sharma of Congress by margin of over 3.70 lakh votes.

Rajgarh

In the ring: Mona Sustani (Congress), Rodmal Nagar (BJP)

Quick Take: BJP has repeated its candidate Nagar who won the last time, but Congress has fielded a fresh face in Mona Sustani, who is a member of Rajgarh panchayat and close to former CM Digvijaya Singh.

2014 elections: Rodmal Nagar of BJP beat Amlabe Narayan Singh by a margin of 2.28 lakh votes.

DELHI

North East Delhi

In the ring: Sheila Dikshit (Congress), Manoj Tiwari (BJP), Dilip Pandey (Aam Aadmi Party)

Quick take: Carved out of the East Delhi parliamentary constituency in 2009, the constituency has a sizeable Purvanchali population apart from Muslims and dalits. It will be a triangular contest between three-time chief minister of Delhi Sheila Dikshit, who had contested from the area in 1998 but lost it, sitting MP and Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari and former AAP’s Delhi convener Dilip Pandey. With the AAP and Congress unable to forge an alliance, a split in Muslim votes (close to 6 lakh) is likely to benefit the BJP. The combined vote share of AAP and Congress was 5% higher than the BJP’s 45.2% vote share.

2014 result: Manoj Tiwari of BJP defeated AAP’s Anand Kumar by 1.44 lakh votes.

East Delhi

In the ring: Atishi (Aam Aadmi Party), Gautam Gambhir (BJP) and Arvinder Singh Lovely (Congress)

Quick take: Previously represented by Congress leader late HKL Bhagat and Sandeep Dikshit (Sheila Dikshit’s son), it was considered a Congress bastion. All the three candidates are contesting the Lok Sabha elections for the first time. With Congress fielding Lovely, a three-time MLA and former Delhi Congress chief, it is going to be a triangular contest. The combined vote share of AAP and Congress (48.9%) was just 1.09% higher than the BJP vote share.

2014 result: BJP’s Mahiesh Girri defeated AAP’s Raj Mohan Gandhi by 1.9 lakh votes.

JHARKHAND

Dhanbad

In the ring: Congress has fielded former India cricketer and former three-term BJP MP from Darbhanga in Bihar, Kirti Azad

Quick take: Azad is locked in a direct contest with two-term BJP MP from Dhanbad, PN Singh. The coal city has been a stronghold of the BJP since the late 1990s. The Congress last won this seat in 2004, when labour union leader Chandrasekhar Dubey wrested this seat, defeating BJP MP Rita Verma who represented the seat for three consecutive terms. Azad is facing ‘outsider’ tag, and the Dubey faction of Dhanbad Congress unit has been openly opposing his candidature.

Result in 2014: PN Singh of BJP defeated Ajay Kumar Dubey of Congress by 2,92,954 votes

UTTAR PRADESH

Sultanpur

In the ring: Maneka Gandhi (BJP), Chandra Bhadra Singh (BSP), Sanjay Singh (Congress)

Quick take: The seat is not considered a citadel of any party or a person. This time there was a seat swap between Maneka Gandhi and her son Varun Gandhi. The Pilibhit BJP MP Maneka is now contested on this seat. It’s a triangular contest. Congress’ Sanjay Singh was the party’s MP on the seat in 2009. The combined vote share of SP and BSP on the seat in 2014 was 6% higher than the BJP winner Varun Gandhi

2014 result: Varun Gandhi won defeating the nearest rival Pawan Pandey of BSP by 1.78 lakh votes

Allahabad

In the ring: Rita Bahuguna Joshi (BJP), Rajendra Singh Patel (SP), Yogesh Shukla (Congress)

Quick Take: Lal Bahadur Shastri (late PM), HN Bahuguna (late UP CM), VP Singh (late PM), Amitabh Bachchan have been MPs here. The sitting BJP MP Shyama Charan Gupta switched to SP just before elections and is contesting from Banda seat. The BJP has fielded HN Bahuguna’s daughter Rita Bahuguna Joshi this time and Rajendra Singh Patel of SP is the challenger.

2014 results: BJP’s Shyama Charan Gupta defeated SP’s Remati Raman Singh by 62,000 votes.

Domariyaganj

In the ring: Former UP chief minister, Jagdambika Pal (BJP) Aftab Alam (BSP) Dr Chandresh Upadhyaya (Congress)

Quick take: Jagdambika Pal is looking for a third successive term here. In 2009 he won the seat as a Congress candidate, in 2014 as BJP’s. The combined vote share of SP, BSP, and Peace Party was 19% higher than that of the winner. Peace Party is now supporting the gathbandhan.

2014 results: Jagdambika Pal of BJP won by a margin of 1 lakh votes over the nearest rival Mohammad Muqeem of BSP.

Sant Kabir Nagar

In the ring: Praveen Kumar Nishad (BJP), Bhishma Shankar Tiwari (BSP), Bhal Chandra Yadav (Congress)

Quick take: Praveen Kumar Nishad, the sitting Samajwadi Party MP from Gorakhpur, is the BJP candidate in Sant Kabir Nagar. He is in a straight fight with the gathbandhan. BJP’s Sharad Tripathi won the seat with a vote share of 34% in 2014 which was 14% less than the combined vote share of SP and BSP then.

2014 winner: BJP’s Sharad Tripathi won with a margin of 97,000 votes against his nearest rival Bhishma Shankar Tiwari of BSP.

Azamgarh

In the ring: Akhilesh Yadav (SP) Dinesh Lal Yadav ‘Nirahua’ (BJP), Congress has not fielded a candidate

Quick take: BJP has never won the seat that has alternated between SP and BSP since 1989. Sitting MP is Mulayam Singh Yadav whose son and the SP national president is contesting from here. Congress has not fielded a candidate here and Bhojpuri singer and actor Dinesh Lal Yadav ‘Nirahua’ of BJP is contesting against Akhilesh.

2014 winner: Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav won the seat by a margin of 63,000 votes against his nearest rival Ramakant Yadav of BJP.

WEST BENGAL

Medinipur

In the ring: Dilip Ghosh (BJP), Manas Bhunia (Trinamool Congress), Biplab Bhatt (Communist Party of India), Sambhu Nath Chatterjee (Congress)

Quick take: The battle between Dilip Ghosh, president of the BJP’s Bengal unit and six-time legislator Manas Bhunia is one of the key fights in the state. While Ghosh stepped down as an MLA to contest, Bhunia, who became a Rajya Sabha MP on a TMC ticket, resigned from the upper house. Ghosh, who won the first election from Kharagpur Sadar assembly seat in 2016, is facing a prestige fight not for his own sake but also for the party in Bengal. Ghosh is also banking on the anti-incumbency sentiments against the ruling party. However, with TMC in 2016 winning six of the seven assembly constituencies that comprise the LS constituency, Ghosh faces an uphill task.

2014 result: Sandhya Roy of Trinamool Congress defeated Prabodh Panda of the Communist Party of India by a margin of 186,666 votes.

HARYANA

Sonipat

In the ring: Bhupinder Singh Hooda (Congress), Ramesh Chander Kaushik (BJP), Digvijay Singh Chautala (Jannayak Janta Party (JJP)), Surender Kumar Chhikara (INLD)

Quick take: In this otherwise Jat dominated seat, the sitting MP Ramesh Chander Kaushik, a Brahmin, is facing a stiff challenge from Congress’ Bhupinder Singh Hooda, former two-time chief minister. By fielding Hooda, who has been facing a series of corruption cases, the Congress has put its best foot forward. And for Hooda this is an opportunity to revive his political fortunes ahead of high-stake assembly election in October later this year. The Rohtak-Sonipat Jat belt is considered a stronghold of Hooda. And his candidature is also expected to influence the neighbouring Rohtak seat from where his son and sitting MP, Deepender Hooda is contesting.

2014 result: Ramesh Chander Kaushik of BJP defeated Jagbir Singh of Congress by 77,414 votes in 2014 .

Hisar

In the ring: Dushyant Chautala (Jannayak Janta Party), Brijendra Singh (BJP), Bhavya Bishnoi (Congress)

Quick take: Three political dynasties of Haryana are sweating it out in Hisar. The sitting MP, Dushyant Chautala, the great-grandson of former deputy Prime Minister Chaudhary Devi Lal; Brijendra Singh, the son of Union minister, Birender Singh and Bhavya Bishnoi, the grandson of former chief minister, Bhajan Lal, are locked in what is turning out to be a keenly watched triangular contest.

2014 result: The youngest MP in 2014 Lok Sabha, Dushyant Chautala, then in Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) defeated Haryana Janhit Congress candidate Kuldeep Bishnoi, son of former chief minister Bhajan Lal, by 31,847 votes. Congress candidate Sampat Singh got third position.

Gurgaon

In the ring: Rao Inderjit Singh (BJP), Capt Ajay Singh (Congress), Dr Mehmood Khan (JJP), Virender Rana (INLD).

Quick take: The minister of state in the Union government Rao Inderjit Singh is locked in what looks like a direct contest with the Congress nominee Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, a former Cabinet minister in Haryana government. There are total 24 candidates in the fray. Rao, a Congressman-turned BJP leader, is a son of former Haryana chief minister Rao Birender Singh.

2014 result: Rao Inderjit Singh as BJP candidate had defeated Zakir Hussain of Indian National Lok Dal by 274,722 votes.

BIHAR

Purvi Champaran

In the ring: Radha Mohan Singh (BJP), Akash Kumar Singh (RLSP), Prabhakar Jaiswal (CPI).

Quick take: Stakes are high for union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh who is seeking a third consecutive term from the constituency. He is in a triangular contest with Akash Kumar Singh of RLSP and Prabhakar Jaiswal of CPI. Akash Kumar SIngh, 27, who is new to electoral politics, is the son of former union minister and Congress leader Akhilesh Kumar Singh, who represented this seat in 2004.

2014 result: Radha Mohan Singh of BJP defeated RJD’s Binod Kumar Srivastava by 192,163 votes.

Siwan

In the ring: Hina Shahab (RJD) and Kavita Kumari (JD-U)

Quick take: Both are wives of strongmen of Siwan and arch rivals . Hina is wife of former MP and strongman Mohammed Shahabuddin, who is currently in Tihar jail, the JD(U) candidate and sitting MLA from Daroundha, Kavita Singh is wife of strongman Ajay Singh.

2014 result: Om Prakash Yadav (BJP) defeated Hina Sahab (RJD) by more than 1.13 lakh votes

First Published: May 11, 2019 12:41 IST