This phase will see a significant number of young politicians rolling into action, making their political debut. In many cases, they are will be taking on veteran leaders - from sons of chief ministers to former student union leaders.
New Delhi: As many as 72 constituencies in 9 states including Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Bengal and Uttar Pradesh are going to polls in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha polls today. A whopping 961 candidates are in the fray.
Among these, a lot of celebrities and newcomers have made a big splash in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections today.
This phase will see a significant number of young politicians rolling into action, making their political debut. In many cases, they are will be taking on veteran leaders - from sons of chief ministers to former student union leaders.
Here are the top 10 battles the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections will witness:
Begusarai, which is a stronghold seat for the RJD which was not willing to yield, will be seeing Tanvir Hasan, who lost in 2014 to the BJP's candidate by a margin of 60,000 votes.
On the other hand, BJP has fielded Giriraj Singh, a Union Minister known for his controversial pronouncements.
Kanhaiya Kumar, a former JNU student union president, will be third-wheeling as the CPI's candidate from Begusarai in Bihar.
Baijayant Panda will be contesting from the Kendrapara seat once again, but this time on a BJP ticket.
He joined the BJP months before elections after quitting from Odisha's Biju Janata Dal last year.
Contesting against Panda will be BJD’s Rajya Sabha member and filmstar-turned politician Anubhav Mohanty.
This time, the BJP has fielded Subrat Pathak, a candidate she had defeated in 2014. Moreover, Dimple Yadav, a two-time lawmaker from Kannauj, will be seeking a third term.
The seat was previously held by her husband Akhilesh Yadav, now chief of the Samajwadi Party. However, winning the seat won't be a piece of cake for Dimple Yadav this time, as Pathak is using her inaccessibility to the people of the constituency to push his case.
UP's Farrukhabad is a seat which is not dominated by a single caste or religion. Former union minister and Congress leader Salman Khurshid is contesting against sitting MP and BJP leader Mukesh Rajput.
The seat is locked in a three-cornered contest between Congress, BJP and the opposition alliance which has fielded BSP leader Manoj Agarwal.
Muslims, though a little over 14 per cent in this constituency, could still decide the fate of this Lok Sabha seat along with the Yadavs.
Asansol will be witnessing a star-studded affair as Union Minister Babul Supriyo, a singer-turned-politician is up against a member of his fraternity, actor-turned-politician Moon Moon Sen in the constituency.
The high-profile contest has garnered a lot of interest since Moon Moon Sen, called the "giant slayer" of Trinamool Congress, defeated nine-time Left lawmaker from Bengal's Bankura in 2014.
However, even Babul Supriyo recorded a huge win in his first election in 2014 and is equally confident.
The Ujiarpur seat in Bihar will be a star-studded battle as BJP candidate Nityanand Rai will face off against Rashtriya Lok Samata Party chief Upendra Kushwaha.
Kushwaha, a former BJP ally, will be contesting from two seats Karakat and Ujiarpur.
After expressing his resentment with the BJP led NDA government, the RLSP chief quit the party citing disappointment over the seat-share deal with Nitish Kumar.
Rai had won the Ujiarpur seat in 2014 by a 1.5 lakh vote margin. CPI (M)’s Ajay Kumar will also be contesting for this seat.
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot’s son, Vaibhav Gehlot, will be contesting in the elections for the first time in Jodhpur. Considered to be his father’s home turf, Vaibhav will be contesting against Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union minister and BJP candidate.
As the constituency is dominated by Rajputs, Shekhawat is confident of winning. The Rajputs are considered a vote bank for the BJP and he had in the 2014 elections defeated Congress candidate Chandresh Kumari by a huge margin of four lakh votes.
The Unnao seat is going to witness a high stakes electoral battle between BJP leader Sakshi Maharaj, Congress’ Annu Tandon and BSP’s Pooja Pal. Maharaj known for making controversial comments had threatened his party before it announced his name as the candidate from Unnao.
Between 2009 and 2014, Annu Tandon served as MP from Unnao when Maharaj defeated her by a large margin.
Mumbai South constituency will witness a face-off between Shiv Sena’s Arvind Sawant and Congress Mumbai chief and former minister Milind Deora. Sawant in 2014 had defeated Deora by a margin of 1.28 lakh votes.
Uday Kotak, Mukesh Ambani and other industrialists recently gave Deora a glowing recommendation.
The Congress is hoping to win the election in Mumbai South as they are placing their hopes on small businesses which felt the pinch of demonetization and the Goods and Service Tax launched in 2017.
Chief minister Kamal Nath’s son, Nakul Nath will contest against BJP candidate Nathan Shah Kavreti in Madhya Pradesh’s Chindwara. Kamal Nath has represented the Chindwara seat nine times since 1980 and has lost only once.
Nakul Nath’s campaign promises to continue the development work in the constituency as Kavreti plans to exploit the tax raids against Kamal Nath’s close aides.
Nathan Shah Kavreti has said his campaign "is a fight between the poor and the mafia who have money".
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