As the third phase of General Elections 2019 sees 116 seats going to polls in states of Gujarat, Kerala, Goa, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Karnataka, Kerala, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, a look at star candidates and key battles
Rahul Gandhi
A host of well-known faces will look forward to the third phase of Lok Sabha elections on Tuesday. The General Elections 2019 will see 117 seats across 15 states and Union Territories going to the polls in a single phase. It will also be a test for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which will aim to defend the maximum number of seats at 62. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi who will be contesting from Wayanad in Kerala and BJP chief Amit Shah, who is contesting from Gujarat's Gandhinagar will be the star candidates in today's polls.
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Political stalwarts, scions of major political families and rebels are in the fray for the 14 parliamentary constituencies in Maharashtra, which will go to polls in the third phase of Lok Sabha elections on April 23. Here are some key contests and candidates in Maharashtra and across India
Key contests in Maharashtra
Supriya Sule
Baramati: In Baramati, the seat represented by Sharad Pawar for seven terms and Ajit Pawar for one term, NCP's Supriya Sule (Sharad Pawar's daughter) is making her third attempt amidst a loud chorus by the BJP that the "Pawars would be politically erased" from the region. The BJP has pitted Kanchan Kul against Sule, making it only one of the two seats in the state other than Mumbai North-Central which will have a direct woman-to-woman contest.
Jalna: Jalna is another BJP bastion where sitting MP since 1999 and state party President Raosaheb Danve-Patil will lock horns with Congress' Vilas K. Autade. Optimistic BJP activists claim that "there's no contest in Jalna".
Pune: The BJP dropped its sitting MP Anil Shirole and nominated state Minister Girish Bapat, who is being challenged by state Congress General Secretary Mohan Joshi.
Ahmednagar: The stronghold of the Vikhe-Patil clan where the Congress has held sway virtually uninterrupted since 1952. The constituency hogged limelight when Sujay Vikhe Patil, a medico and son of Congressman and Maharashtra Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, suddenly quit the Congress and joined the BJP. His grouse was that the NCP did not give up the Ahmednagar seat which has been the bastion of one of the oldest political clans in the state. The BJP promptly rewarded Sujay Vikhe-Patil with a ticket and now he is pitted against NCP's Sangram Jagtap.
Madha: In an unexpected move, the NCP dropped sitting MP and party strongman Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil and denied a ticket to his son Ranjitsinh Mohite-Patil. The latter switched over to the BJP, but the saffron party gave ticket to a royal descendent, Ranjitsinh Naik-Nimbalkar, who recently quit the Congress. Naik-Nimbalkar will lock horns with NCP nominee Sanjay Shinde, a bitter rival of the powerful Mohite-Patils clan in Madha
Sangli: Sangli has a tough contest on hand with the late Vasantrao Patil's grandson, Vishal Prakashbapu Patil, entering the fray on an SSS ticket, as part of the Congress-NCP led 56-party Mahagathbandhan. He is pitted against the BJP's sitting MP Sanjay 'Kaka' Patil. Vishal's nomination sparked a family feud with his elder brother and ex-union Minister Pratik P. Patil quitting the Congress and politics.
Satara: The seat will witness an interesting contest with the NCP's two-time MP Udayanraje P. Bhosale, a direct descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, locking horns with the BJP's Narendra Annasaheb Patil, a former Shiv Sainik.
Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg: The stronghold of former Chief Minister Narayan Rane and his family, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg had elected his son Nilesh Rane in 2009, who defeated Sena's Union Minister Suresh Prabhu. However, the Sena wrested the seat in 2014 when Vinayak Raut won, but in 2017 Rane floated the Maharashtra Swabhiman Party (MSP) and allied with the NDA. With Sena resisting the MSP, the latter has independently nominated Nilesh Rane who will contest against Congress' Navinchandra Bandivadekar, who was embroiled in a controversy for his alleged links with the right-wing Sanatan Sanstha.
Also Read: Elections 2019: Voting begins for 14 LS seats in Maharashtra
Rest of India
Jaya Prada
Rampur (Uttar Pradesh): Rampur is witnessing its worst-ever election campaign with BJP's Jaya Prada and SP's Mohammad Azam Khan calling each other unprintable names. The Azam Khan-Jaya Prada hostility has already acquired legendary proportions and both the leaders do not spare any opportunity to strike at each other.
Ferozabad (Uttar Pradesh): In Ferozabad, the war is between uncle Shivpal Yadav and nephew Akshay Yadav and there is certainly no camaraderie in the air. This is a real battle between Yadav leaders.
Pilibhit (Uttar Pradesh): In Pilibhit, BJP MP Varun Gandhi is pitted against SP's Hemraj Varma.
Jangipur (West Bengal): In Jangipur, former President Pranab Mukherjee's son Abhijit Mukherjee of the Congress faces a tough battle as he seeks a hat-trick of wins from the constituency, which had sent his father to the Parliament twice. The Trinamool nominee from Jangipur is Khalilur Rahaman, while the BJP has given ticket to Mafuja Khatun, the party's only Muslim woman candidate in this election. Zulfiqar Ali of the CPI(M) is also in the fray.
Madhepura (Bihar): The key contest is in Madhepura, where sitting MP Pappu Yadav, who had won on a RJD ticket in 2014, is contesting for the Jan Adhikar Party, a political outfit floated by him in 2015. He is up against RJD candidate Sharad Yadav.
Puri (Odisha): Puri will witness a triangular fight between spokespersons of three major political parties, as two-time sitting MP and BJD spokesman Pinaki Mishra will cross swords with BJP's national spokesperson Sambit Patra and state Congress media cell Chairman Satya Prakash Nayak. Dhenkanal is also expected to witness a triangular fight.
Amit Shah
Gandhinagar (Gujarat): Gandhinagar has been BJP's bastion since 1989. BJP veteran Lal Krishna Advani represented the seat six times. The Congress last won the seat in 1984. BJP president Amit Shah is set to contest his first Lok Sabha polls from Gandhinagar this time against Congress candidate CJ Chavda.
Rahul Gandhi.
Wayanad (Kerala): Congress president Rahul Gandhi is contesting from Kerala's Wayanad apart from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. Gandhi will face NDA candidate Thushar Vellapally and CPI's PP Suneer in Wayanad.
Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala): Thiruvananthapuram is also expected to see a tough battle with sitting Congress MP Shashi Tharoor pitted against former Mizoram Governor Kummanam Rajasekharan of the BJP and LDF candidate C. Divakaran.
Anantnag (Jammu and Kashmir): Mehbooba Mufti, who won from Anantnag seat in Jammu and Kashmir, would be eyeing another win this time. She is in contention with Ghulam Ahmad Mir of Congress and National Conference's new entrant Hasnain Masoodi.
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