Amit Shah To Adhir Chowdhury: Big Guns Contesting Lok Sabha Polls Phase 3

A total of 92 seats across 11 states and Union Territories will be going to polls in the third phase of Lok Sabha election today. Out of 1352 candidates, there are several heavyweights whose poll fortunes will make national headlines.

Earlier, 94 seats were to vote in this phase. But while results for the Surat seat have been declared because the BJP candidate has no opposition, polling for Anantnag has been deferred due to bad weather. 

Here are some of the high-profile candidates:

Amit Shah: Union Home Minister Amit Shah is contesting Lok Sabha polls from the Gandhinagar constituency in Gujarat. The Congress has fielded Sonal Patel from the BJP stronghold. The Gandhinagar seat, which was represented by BJP veteran Lal Krishna Advani six times, has been with the BJP for about 35 years now. In the 2019 election, Mr Shah had recorded a thumping victory over the Congress’s Chatursinh Javanji Chavda, defeating him by a margin of over 5 lakh votes.

Supriya Sule: Among the most watched candidates in this phase is NCP leader and Sharad Pawar’s daughter, Supriya Sule. A four-time MP who has been a member of both Houses of parliament, Ms Sule is contesting from her family stronghold Baramati that she has represented thrice. This battle, however, is different from her earlier fights. This time, Ms Sule is up against another Pawar – Ajit Pawar’s wife and her sister-in-law, Sunetra. The Pawar vs Pawar contest is taking part against the backdrop of the mutiny within NCP led by Sharad Pawar’s nephew Ajit Pawar. The Baramati battle, therefore, is not just about a seat, but a show of strength that will determine if the veteran politician, who is backing daughter Supriya, still holds sway over the NCP rank and file.

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury: Of the four West Bengal seats going to polls in the third phase is Baharampur, the fort of Congress leader in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. A five-time MP from the seat, Mr Chowdhury is known to hold considerable clout in the north Bengal constituency. This time, he is up against the BJP’s Nirmal Kumar Saha and Trinamool’s pick, former cricketer Yusuf Pathan. Of the seven Assembly segments that are part of the Lok Sabha seat, six are with the Trinamool Congress and the ruling party in Bengal will be trying hard to unseat Mr Chowdhury, among the most-vocal critics of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan: The BJP veteran and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has made a return to the Lok Sabha poll arena, and the seat allotted to him is one he won five times in a row. The Vidisha Lok Sabha constituency has been held by the BJP for 35 years now and has been represented by the party’s stalwarts, former PM late Atal Bihari Vajpayee and former Union Minister, late Sushma Swaraj. This time, Mr Chouhan is up against veteran Congress leader Pratap Bhanu Sharma, who won the Vidisha seat twice in the 1980s.

Jyotiraditya Scindia: Four years after his switch to the BJP, Jyotiraditya Scindia is gearing up for his first poll fight with the lotus symbol. The Civil Aviation minister is contesting from his family stronghold Guna, which has earlier been represented by his father Madhavrao Scindia and grandmother Vijaya Raje Scindia. Mr Scindia has recorded four victories from Guna before losing the 2019 election on a Congress ticket. This time, he is up against the Congress’s Rao Yadavendra Singh Yadav.

Digvijaya Singh: Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh, who has been a Rajya Sabha member for a decade now, is now eyeing a Lok Sabha return with a poll pass from Madhya Pradesh’s Rajgarh seat, which has represented twice in the past. Mr Singh is up against the BJP’s Rodmal Nagar, who won from Rajgarh in the 2014 and 2019 elections.