Over 1600 candidates will be vying for 117 seats in 15 states and Union Territories, including Tripura, on Tuesday, 22 April, in the phase 3 of the Lok Sabha Elections 2019.
This will be the biggest phase in terms of seats in the seven-phase elections that are set to conclude on 19 May.
Phase 3 includes all 26 seats in Gujarat and 20 seats of Kerala. Elections will also be held on 14 seats in Karnataka, 10 seats of Uttar Pradesh and 5 in West Bengal besides others.
This phase also includes the Tripura West Lok Sabha seat, polling in which was to be held on 18 April but was postponed to 23 April over law and order concerns.
Some of the most important names are taking part in the polls. The biggest name in the fray is Congress president and Prime Ministerial candidate Rahul Gandhi, who is for the first time contesting from a second seat besides Amethi – Kerala’s Wayanad.
On the other hand is first time Lok Sabha contestant BJP chief Amit Shah, who is fighting the elections from Gandhinagar.
Polling is expected to begin at 7 am and end by 5 pm.
Here is a look at the seats and key contenders where polling will take place on 23 April.
Assam
Constituency/ies that go to polls:
Dhubri, Kokrajhar, Barpeta, Gauhati
Number of contenders:
54
Main parties:
BJP+ AGP+ BPF, Congress, AIUDF
Key contest/s:
Kokrajhar –BPF’s Pramila Rani Brahma versus Independent candidate Naba Kumar Sarania
Dhubri – Maulana Badruddin Ajmal of AIUDF versus Abu Taher Bepari of Congress
Bihar
Constituency/ies that go to polls:
Jhanjharpur, Supaul, Araria, Madhepura, Khagaria
Number of contenders:
82
Main parties:
BJP+JD(U)+LJP, Mahagathbandhan of RJD+Congress+others
Key contest/s:
Madhepura – Sharad Yadav of LJD (RJD alliance) versus Jan Adhikar Party leader Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav versus JD(U)’s Dinesh Chandra Yadav.
Araria – RJD’s Araria Sarfaraz Ahmad (alliance) versus Pradeep Singh of BJP
Chhattisgarh
Constituency/ies that go to polls:
Surguja, Raigarh, Janjgir-Champa, Korba, Bilaspur, Durg, Raipur
Main parties:
BJP, Congress
Number of contenders:
123
Key contest/s:
Durg – BJP’s Vijay Baghel versus Pratima Chandrakar of Congress
Raipur – BJP’s Sunil Soni versus Pramod Dubey of Congress
Dadra and Nagar Haveli
Constituency/ies that go to polls:
Dadra and Nagar Haveli
Main parties:
BJP, Congress
Number of contenders:
11
Key contest/s:
Dadra and Nagar Haveli – BJP’s Natubhai Gomanbhai Patel versus Congress’ Prabhu Ratnabhai Tokiya
Daman and Diu
Constituency/ies that go to polls:
Daman and Diu
Main parties:
BJP, Congress
Number of contenders:
4
Key contest/s:
Daman and Diu – BJP’s Lalubhai Patel versus Congress’ Ketan Patel
Goa
Constituency/ies that go to polls:
North Goa, South Goa
Main parties:
BJP, Congress
Number of contenders:
12
Key contest/s:
North Goa – Shripad Yesso Naik of BJP versus Congress’ Girish Chodankar.
Gujarat
Constituency/ies that go to polls:
Kachchh, Banaskantha, Patan, Mahesana, Sabarkantha, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad East, Ahmedabad West, Surendranagar, Rajkot, Porbandar, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Amreli, Bhavnagar, Anand, Kheda, Panchmahal, Dahod, Vadodara, Chhota Udaipur, Bharuch, Bardoli, Surat, Navsari, Valsad.
Main parties:
BJP, Congress
Number of contenders:
371
Key contest/s:
Gandhinagar – BJP chief Amit Shah versus Congress’ CJ Chavda
Surat – BJP’s Darshana Jardosh versus Congress’ Ashok Adhevada
Vadodara – Ranjan Ben Bhatt of BJP versus Prashant Patel of Congress
Jammu and Kashmir
Constituency/ies that go to polls:
Anantnag
Number of contenders:
18
Key contest/s:
Anantnag – PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti versus Congress’ Ghulam Ahmad Mir versus NC’s Hasnain Masoodi.
Karnataka
Constituency/ies that go to polls:
Chikkodi, Belgaum, Bagalkot, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Raichur, Bidar, Koppal, Bellary, Haveri, Dharwad, Uttara Kannada, Davanagere, Shimoga
Main parties:
BJP, Congress+JD(S)
Number of contenders:
237
Key contest/s:
Kalaburagi – Congress’ Mallikarjun Kharge versus BJP’s Umesh Jadhav
Uttara Kannada – Ananth Kumar Hegde of BJP versus Anand Asnotikar of the JD(S)
Shimoga – B Y Raghavendra of BJP versus Madhu Bangarappa of Congress
Kerala
Constituency/ies that go to polls:
Kasaragod, Kannur, Vadakara, Wayanad, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Ponnani, Palakkad, Alanthur, Thrissur, Chalakudy, Ernakulam, Idukki, Kottayam, Alappuzha, Mavelikkara, Pathanamthitta, Kollam, Attingal, Thiruvananthapuram
Main parties:
BJP, UDF (Congress+), Left front
Number of contenders:
227
Key contest/s:
Wayanad – Congress president Rahul Gandhi versus BJP ally Bharath Dharma Jana Sena’s Thushar Vellapally versus LDF’ PP Suneer
Thiruvananthapuram – Congress’ Shashi Tharoor versus Kummanam Rajasekharan of the BJP versus LDF’s C Divakaran
Thrissur – BJP’s Suresh Gopi versus TN Prathapan of Congress versus Rajaji Mathew Thomas of LDF
Pathanamthitta – K Surendran of BJP versus Anto Antony of Congress versus LDF’s Veena George
Maharashtra
Constituency/ies that go to polls:
Jalgaon, Raver, Jalna, Aurangabad, Raigad, Pune, Baramati, Ahmednagar, Madha, Sangli, Satara, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Kolhapur, Hatkanangle
Main parties:
BJP+Shiv Sena and Congress+NCP
Number of contenders:
249
Key contest/s:
Baramati – NCP’s Supriya Sule versus Kanchan Rahul Kul of BJP
Raigad – Shiv Sena’s Anant Geete versus NCP’s Sunil Tatkare
Odisha
Constituency/ies that go to polls:
Sambalpur, Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Cuttack, Puri, Bhubaneswar
Main parties:
BJP, Congress, BJD
Number of contenders:
60
Key contest/s:
Puri – Sambit Patra of BJP versus Satya Prakash Nayak of Congress versus Pinaki Misra of BJD
Tripura East
Constituency/ies that go to polls:
Tripura East
Main parties:
BJP, Congress, CPI(M)
Number of contenders:
10
Key contest/s:
Tripura East – Jitendra Choudhury of CPI(M) versus Congress’ Pragya Debburman versus BJP’s Rebati Tripura
Uttar Pradesh
Constituency/ies that go to polls:
Moradabad, Rampur, Sambhal, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etah, Badaun, Aonla, Bareilly, Pilibhit
Main parties:
BJP, Congress, SP+BSP+RLD
Number of contenders:
120
Key contest/s:
Mainpuri – SP’s Mulayam Singh Yadav versus Prem Singh Shakya of BJP
Rampur – Jaya Prada of BJP versus Azam Khan of SP
Pilibhit – BJP’s Varun Gandhi versus SP’s Hemraj Verma
Firozabad – Samajwadi Party Lohia (SBSP)’s Shivpal Singh Yadav versus Chandrasen Jadun of BJP versus SP’s Akshay Yadav
West Bengal
Constituency/ies that go to polls:
Balurghat, Maldaha Uttar, Maldaha Dakshin, Jangipur, Murshidabad
Main parties:
TMC, BJP, Congress
Number of contenders:
61
Key contest/s:
Jangipur – Mafuja Khatun of BJP versus Abhijit Mukherjee of Congress versus TMC’s Khalilur Rehman
Maldaha Uttar – Khagen Murmu of BJP versus Isha Khan Chowdhury of Congress versus TMC’s Mausam Noor
Murshidabad – BJP’s Humayun Kabir versus Abu Hena of Congress versus TMC’s Janab Abu Taher Khan