Lok Sabha elections 2024: Baramati to Mainpuri, key battles in phase 3

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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With two phases of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 concluded, India is now headed to the third phase scheduled for May 7. As many as 1,351 candidates from 12 states and Union Territories are in the fray for the next phase. These include eight candidates from Madhya Pradesh’s Betul seat, where the election was supposed to be held in the second phase but was postponed to the third following the death of the BSP candidate. Meanwhile, BJP candidate from Gujarat’s Surat seat Mukesh Dalal has been elected unopposed.

The Election Commission received a total of 2,963 nominations for 95 seats, including Betul. Of these, 1,563 were found valid after scrutiny.

Here’s a look at some of the key contests in the third phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections:

1. Gandhinagar

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is looking forward to a second consecutive term from this crucial seat in Gujarat, which was earlier held for a long time by BJP stalwart LK Advani. Shah is competing against Congress candidate Sonal Patel, who is the All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary and an architect by profession. In the 2019 elections, Shah defeated rival Congress candidate CJ Chavda by more than 5.57 lakh votes.

2. Mainpuri

A stronghold of the Samajwadi Party, this seat in Uttar Pradesh is currently represented by former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s wife Dimple Yadav after she won the 2022 by-poll necessitated by the demise of SP stalwart Mulayam Singh Yadav. Dimple Yadav is fielded against BJP’s Jaiveer Singh and Shiv Prasad Yadav of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

3. Baramati

Baramati in western Maharashtra has majorly favoured veteran leader Sharad Pawar and his family over the past few decades. However, the situation is quite different in the 2024 general elections as Sharad Pawar’s nephew Ajit Pawar rebelled against him and joined the Eknath Shine-led Shiv Sena-BJP government in the state. Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule, a three-time MP from this seat, is facing a direct contest from Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra this time.

4. Shimoga

Shimoga is one of the most talked about seats in Karnataka as children of two former CMs are locking horns here. While the BJP has fielded BY Raghavendra, the son of sitting MP and veteran leader BS Yediyurappa, the Congress has named former CM late S Bangarappa’s daughter Geetha Shivarajkumar, who is married to film star Shivarajkumar and is daughter-in-law of Kannada thespian late Rajkumar. Also, in the fray is BJP rebel leader KS Eshwarappa.

5. Bharuch

Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Dediapada MLA Chaitar Vasava is up against six-time sitting MP Mansukhbhai Vasava from this seat in Gujarat, a stronghold of the saffron party. This is one of the two seats the Congress has set aside for its INDIA bloc partner in the state. Bharuch was earlier represented by the late Ahmed Patel.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow