Fernandes, Sonia face voters today

The fortunes of two former Prime Ministers, two ex-Governors, two ex-Speakers, eight former Chief Ministers, 10 Union ministers, half a dozen film stars and about a dozen history-sheeters will be decided tomorrow, as 137 parliamentary constituencies in 11 states go to polls.

Interestingly, in the Pune constituency of Maharasthra, as many as 22 people are fighting for the Lok Sabha seat, making it one of the most hotly contested in this phase of the elections.

Former Prime Ministers Chandrashekhar in Ballia and HD Deve Gowda in Hassan, Congress President Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli, National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Convener George Fernandes in Muzaffarpur, Lok Janashakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan in Hajipur, and Speaker of the dissolved Lok Sabha Manohar Joshi are those seeking to test their fortunes at the hustings.

The election tomorrow will see the curtain coming down on some key contests. Civil Aviation Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy versus Laloo Yadav in Chhapra, former Petroleum Minister Ram Naik versus film actor Govinda in Mumbai (North) and Sunil Dutt against Sanjay Nirupam in Mumbai (South) have had on show, spirited rhetoric, cunning and wit.

Controversial BSP leader Mayawati, as well Minister of State for Home Swami Chinmayanand are seeking election from Akbarpur and Jaunpur, respectively.

The Faizabad constituency, where the contested Ayodhya temple is located, is also going to polls tomorrow. Whether the election has been a success in Jammu and Kashmir or not will be decided by the turnout in the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency tomorrow.

This phase of the elections will complete the Lok Sabha polls in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Manipur, Orissa and Jharkhand.

Is this election more important for the NDA or the Congress and its allies? It is hard to say.

While in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, it is a question of political life and death for Congress Chief Minister SM Krishna and NDA ally and Telugu Desam Chief Minister M Chandrababu Naidu, respectively, the NDA must get as many Lok Sabha seats from Bihar (30 out of 40) and Jharkhand (10 out of 14) this time as it had in 1999.

Similarly, in order to have a more meaningful relationship with the Congress""from his point of view""Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar must ensure its victory for at least 14 of its 18 candidates who are contesting for the Lok Sabha this time.

With the second phase of elections "" though technically it is the third because the Tripura elections took place in between on April 22 "" several leaders will be free to help the campaign of their colleagues in other states. Judging by exit polls and turnout figures, some indications of the way people have voted might be available by Tuesday.