Voting is underway in 64 Lok Sabha constituencies in the penultimate round of the national election that ends on May 12. Rahul Gandhi, Rabri Devi, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Ram Vilas Paswan, Varun Gandhi and Beni Prasad Verma among those whose fate will be sealed today.
The Congress has reasons to be concerned over the outcome of the eighth round as the party holds nearly half the 64 seats. The BJP has to do well in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to be in the reckoning as the single largest party in the new Lok Sabha.
Here's a quick look at the top ten contests:
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In Amethi, while Vishwas is banking on the power of 'aam aadmi', Irani is trying to cash in on Modi wave.
Other key Uttar Pradesh candidates include Beni Prasad Verma (Gonda) of the Congress. He is facing BJP's Kirti Vardhan Singh. Vardhan has previously won the seat as a member of Samajwadi Party in 1998 and 2004.
Faizabad is a key constituency that also includes Ayodhya. The sitting MP from Faizabad is Congress’ Nirmal Khatri and he’s facing BJP’s Lallu Singh, and SP’s Jitendra Kumar.
3) In the hill state of Uttarakhand, Chief Minister Harish Rawat's wife Renuka Rawat is making her maiden attempt to enter the Lok Sabha through Hardwar. Rawat’s wife is facing former chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank of the BJP. It is being seen as a direct fight between Rawat and the BJP.
4) In Himachal Pradesh, Mandi and Hamirpur are witnessing a battle of supremacy between arch rivals Virbhadra Singh and Prem Kumar Dhumal. The former is the Congress veteran whose wife Pratibha Singh is again in the fray in Mandi, while the latter belongs to the BJP and his son Anurag Thakur is re-contesting in Hamirpur, a BJP bastion.
5) In Kangra, two-time Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Shanta Kumar of BJP, Congress' Chander Kumar, winner here in 2004, and AAP’s Rajan Sushant, who won in 2009 on a BJP ticket but resigned from the seat this January, are the three leading contenders.
In Maharajganj, Prabhunath Singh of RJD is seeking re-election. Last year, he defeated Janata Dal-United's P K Shahi in the by-election.
7) Lok Janshakti Party president Ram Vilas Paswan, who recently joined hands with the BJP, is once again trying his luck from Hajipur (Bihar). Taking on Paswan is the 93-year-old sitting MP of Hajipur, JD (U) veteran Ram Sundar Das, who defeated him by less than 40,000 votes in 2009.
TDP boss Naidu is seeking re-election from his Kuppam Assembly constituency in native Chittoor district, which he has been representing since 1989. YSR congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy is contesting Assembly polls for the first time from the family stronghold of Pulivendula in native Kadapa district.
9) Union Human Resource Development Minister and Congress candidate M M Pallam Raju is contesting again from Kakinada Lok Sabha seat, which he won thrice earlier.
Former union minister D Purandeswari, daughter of the legendary N T Rama Rao, is fighting from Rajampet as a BJP candidate. She quit the Congress after Andhra Pradesh was split.
Incumbent MP in Nellore and YSR Congress candidate Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy is up against Adala Prabhakara Reddy of the Telugu Desam Party.
Popular singer Babul Supriyo is the BJP’s candidate from Asansol. He is fighting mainly against the sitting MP Bansagopal Chowdhury of the CPI-M and Trinamool candidate Dola Sen.