Lok Sabha Elections Phase II is going to be held tomorrow across 13 states and Union Territories. Here is the list of candidates that will play on the ground tomorrow and a gist of their background.
Tamil Nadu:
Kanyakumari
On the ground: H Vasanthakumar (Congress) and Pon Radhakrishnan (BJP)
Background: The sitting MP of Kanyakumari, Radhakrishnan is focusing more on taking over businessman Vasanthkumar who is the managing director of home appliances dealership chain Vasanth and Company. Religions followed here are Christianity and Hinduism by the Nadars which makes up the major constituency unlike other parts of Tamil Nadu where Dravidians dominate. The constituency has been visited by both PM Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi.
Thoothukkudi
On the ground: Tamilisai Sounderarajan ( BJP) and Kanimozhi Karunanidhi ( DMK)
Background: The Nadar community is predominant here and Late DMK leader M Karunanidhi’s daughter and DMK President MK Stalin’s half-sister Kanimozhi is taking over BJP’s state chief Sundarajan.
Nilgiris
On the ground: M Thiyagrajan (AIADMK) and A Raja (DMK)
Background: A Raja is the former union telecom minister of Nilgiris and he is standing again for the same position. He won in 2009 LS Elections. Schedule caste and tribes such as Gongu Vellalar Gounders are predominant here and chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami belongs to it.
Sivaganga
On the ground: Karti P Chidambaram (Congress) and H Raja (BJP)
Background: Both the candidates had contested for LS Elections in 2014 where Raja finished third and Karti finished fourth. Karti is the son of former Union finance minister P Chidambaram who is standing against H Raja. The constituency is dominated by Thevars, Chettiars and Dalits.
Chennai
On the ground: Sam Paul (PMK), KKSM Dehlan Baqavi (SDPI) and Dhayanidhi Maran (DMK)
Background: Sam Paul is an industrialist and Maran is the former union telecom minister. Muslims and Christians are a majority here.
Uttar Pradesh:
Mathura
On the ground: Kunwar Narendra Singh (RLD), Mahesh Pathak (INC) and Hema Malini (BJP)
Background: Hema Malini, the sitting MP will face a tough challenge from Narendra Singh of Congress due to his experience. 70% of voters reside in the rural area and she has faced anger from voters due to Yamuna pollution and unemployment.
Fatehpur Sikri
On the ground: Shri Bhagwan Sharma alias Guddu Pandit (BSP), Raj Kumar Chahar (BJP) and Raj Babbar (INC)
Background: Sharma is trying to take over Raj Babbar who has replaced sitting MP Chaudhary Babulal. The competition looks tough as there are three candidates.
Agra
On the ground: Manoj Soni (BSP), SP Singh Baghel (BJP) and Preeta Harit (Congress)
Background: The BJP won here in 2009 and 2014. Congress won in Agra in 1984 and this time, Preeta Harit is trying to win.
Aligarh
On the ground: Ajit Baliyan (BSP), Satish Gautam (BJP) and Bijendra Singh (Congress)
Background: MP Satish Gautam is taking on Mohammed Ali Jinnah’s portrait at Aligarh Muslim University. Bijendra Singh was the MP in 2004.
Amroha
On the ground: Danish Ali (BSP), Kanwar Singh Tanwar (BJP) and Sachin Choudhary (Congress)
Background: Tanwar is the sitting MP of BJP and the competition seems to interesting as the constituency is ruled by Muslims, Dalits and the Sainis, among which the Muslims have 40% majority.
Bihar
Katihar
On the ground: Tariq Anwar (Congress) and Dulal Chandra Goswami (JD-U)
Background: Anwar being the sitting MP has higher chances of winning after he resigned from the Nationalist Congress Party and joined Congress
Assam
Silchar
On the ground: Nazia Yasmin Mazumdar (NPP), Rajdeep Roy (BJP) and Sushmita Dev (Congress)
Background: Sushmita Dev will give a tough competition to her competitors as she won in 2014 due to her proposal on Indian citizenship for minorities from the Muslim-majority nations of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Tripura
East Tripura constituency (ST)
On the ground: Jitendra Chaudhary (CPM), Pragya Deb Burman (Congress), Narendra Chandra Debbarma.
Background: The populous front of Tripura is fielded by Congress and dominated by local tribes which make it tough for competitors standing against Burman.
Jammu and Kashmir
Srinagar
On the ground: Irfan Ansari (People’s Conference), Agha Mohsin (People’s Democratic Party), Khalid Jehangir (BJP) and Farooq Abdullah (National Conference).
Background: Farooq Abdullah is the sitting MP for the fourth time hence it will be a tough competition for his competitors even though they are star campaigners of their political parties.
Udhampur
On the ground: Choudhary Lal Singh (Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan) and Harsh Dev Singh (Panthers Party), Vikramaditya Singh (Congress) and Dr Jitendra Singh (BJP)
Background: Lal Singh who is the former MP from Jammu can be the spoiler here. The National Conference and People’s Democratic Party are also supporting the Congress.
Odisha
Aska
On the ground: Anita Subhadarshini (BJP) Ramakrushna Panda (CPI-Cong alliance) and Pramila Bisoyi (BJD).
Background: After sitting MP Swani’s death, Pramila Bisoi was nominated by the BJD. About 20% of the population is Dalits.
Kandhamal
On the ground: Manoj Acharya (Cong), MA Kharabela Swami (BJP) and Achyut Samanta (BJD).
Background: 50% voters in Kandhamal are tribals and Swain is a three-time BJP MP which makes it a tough competition for the rest.
Chhattisgarh:
Rajnandgaon
On the ground: Bholaram Sahu (Congress) and Santosh Pandey (BJP).
Background: Santosh Pandey, a resident of Kawardha has been fielded by BJP. He is close to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and has contested Birendra Nagar constituency where he lost to Congress. Former chief minister Raman Singh is campaigning for Pandey and almost 15% of the constituency might vote him.
Amravati
On the ground: Navneet Kaur Rana (Yuva Swabhimani Paksha) and Anandrao Adsul (Shiv Sena).
Background: Anandrao Adsul is standing against Rana who is a former Telgu film actor supported by the Congress and the Republican party of India. Dalits and Muslims form one-third of the population here.
Akola
On the ground: Hidayat Patel (Congress), Prakash Ambedkar (Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi) and Sanjay Dhotre (BJP).
Background: Sanjay Dhotre will give a tough competition to Congress leader Hidayat Patel as he has been BJP’s MP for three times. BJP has also been winning here since 1989.
West Bengal:
Darjeeling
On the ground: Raju Singh Bisht (BJP), Shankar Malakar (Congress) and Amar Singh Rai (TMC).
Background: BJP won here witht the help of GJM in 2009 and 2014, both but things changed in 2017 and the Trinamool Congress led by Bimal Gurung backed up the BJP. The competition will be interesting.
Raiganj
On the ground: Deboshree Chawdhary (BJP), Kanaia Lal Agarwal (TMC), Deepa Dasmunsi (Congress) and Md Salim (CPM).
Background: Raiganj seats were won by left parties in Bengal and since then things have changed. However, a communist party of India is facing a tough challenge from Deepa Dasmuni (Congress) which has won here, traditionally. People from the Hindu and Muslim cast both are in equals.
Karnataka
Tumkuru
On the ground: H D Deve Godwa (JD-S) and GS Basvaraj (BJP).
Background: H D Deve Gowda, former Prime Minister, has higher chances of winning despite the tough competition between BJP and Congress.
Mandya
On the ground: Sumalatha Ambareesh (Independent) and Nikhil Kumaraswamy (JD-S).
Background: Sumalatha has made the competition interesting as Congress leaders and workers have his back, which makes it extremely tough for Nikhil to win.
Bengaluru South
On the ground: B K Hari Prasad (Congress) and Tejaswi Surya (BJP) Bengaluru South.
Background: BJP leader Anant Kumar has been winning since six consecutive terms but he died a few months ago. Now, the competition is on fire between Congress and Prasad, who is a Rajya Sabha member.
