Rahul, Sonia Gandhi, Smriti Irani: Key Faces in Phase 5 Voting

Union Minister Smriti Irani vs Congress President Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, and other key contests in phase 5 polls.

Phase 5 Key Candidates: Union Minister Smriti Irani is looking to defeat Congress President Rahul Gandhi in his bastion Amethi.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

The fifth phase of the Lok Sabha polls is witnessing some high-profile contests, including one for Amethi between Congress President Rahul Gandhi and Union Minister Smriti Irani.

Voting for the fifth of the seven phases of the Lok Sabha elections started at 7 am on Monday, 6 May, with 51 constituencies spread across seven states going to polls. 

The states where voters are casting their ballots are: Bihar (5 parliamentary constituencies), Jammu and Kashmir (2), Jharkhand (4), Madhya Pradesh (7), Rajasthan (12), Uttar Pradesh (14) and West Bengal (7).

A total of 674 candidates cutting across party lines are in the fray. Here is a closer look at some of the key candidates in the fray for the fifth phase of voting:

Lok Sabha Elections – Phase 5: Uttar Pradesh

AMETHI: Smriti Irani vs Rahul Gandhi

Amethi has been a stronghold of the Congress party for decades. Before Rahul Gandhi, the seat was held by his mother and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

In 2014 elections, Rahul Gandhi won the elections, but with Irani’s entry, his winning margin was reduced from 3.7 lakh votes in 2009 to 1.07 lakh votes.

Union Minister Smriti Irani is looking to defeat Congress President Rahul Gandhi in his bastion Amethi.(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Smriti Irani has dubbed the fight between her and Gandhi as a fight between ‘namdaar’ and ‘kaamdar’. She has also accused Gandhi of not addressing the issues of the people of Amethi and instead, using them as a vote-bank.

Gandhi, on the other hand, has blamed the Centre for taking away development projects initiated by the UPA government in Amethi.

The seat of Amethi is once again seeing a fierce battle between Gandhi and Irani, and with SP-BSP out of the picture, it is a direct fight between the two.

RAEBARELI: Sonia Gandhi vs Dinesh Pratap

The Raebareli Lok Sabha Constituency is currently held by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. In 2014, Sonia had beaten Ajay Agrawal of BJP by bagging 63.8 percent of the vote share in this constituency.

This time around, Sonia Gandhi is squaring off against BJP’s Dinesh Pratap Singh.

File image of former Congress President Sonia Gandhi.(Photo: IANS)

Lok Sabha Elections – Phase 5: Bihar

MUZAFFARPUR: Ajay Nishad vs Rajbhushan Choudhary Nishad

Five parliamentary constituencies of the total 40 have gone to polls in the fifth phase of voting in Bihar. Out of the five, the key contest is being fought in Muzaffarpur, as it threatens to unsettle the established political order in Bihar.

Mukesh Sahni's VIP party is battling for the rights of the Mallah (boatman) community, which has long been pro-NDA.

The constituency is seeing a close contest between BJP’s Ajay Nishad and VIP’s Rajbhushan Choudhary Nishad.

BJP’s Ajay Nishad is taking on VIP’s Rajbhushan Choudhary Nishad in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur.(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Lok Sabha Elections – Phase 5: Rajasthan

BIKANER: Arjun Ram Meghwal vs Madan Gopal Meghwal

In 2014, BJP had made a clean-sweep in Rajasthan. This time around, they are facing a much tougher contest given the anti-incumbency factor at play, as observed in the recent Assembly elections.

A key contest is being fought on the Bikaner seat that has seen a head-to-head contest between the BJP and the Congress since 1980. Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal represents this constituency. He had won in 2014 with a margin of over three lakh votes.

Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal is up against Congress’ Madan Gopal Meghwal in Bikaner.(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

This time, Congress has fielded Madan Gopal Meghwal, a retired IPS officer and a cousin of Arjun Ram, against him.

Lok Sabha Elections – Phase 5: Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh is a crucial state for the BJP this time around, for it lost the recent Assembly election here. In the fifth phase, a total of seven seats are up for grabs.

Out of the seven, the Satna Lok Sabha constituency is seeing the BJP trying to hold on to its bastion of over 20 years. This time as well, BJP has fielded its incumbent MP Ganesh Singh, who has represented the seat since 2004, against the Congress’ Raja Ram Tripathi.

Lok Sabha Elections – Phase 5: Jammu and Kashmir

The state of Jammu and Kashmir is seeing voting in two Lok Sabha constituencies. The key contest is in Ladakh, geographically the largest Parliamentary constituency of India.

In 2014, it was won by Thupstan Chhewang by just 36 votes. This time around, the seat could pose a tough challenge for the BJP as Chhewang had resigned from the party last year.

Lok Sabha Elections – Phase 5: Jharkhand

HAZARIBAGH: Jayant Sinha vs Gopal Sahu

Four seats are voting in Jharkhand in the fifth phase.

Union Minister Jayant Sinha will see a close fight against Congress’ Gopal Sahu in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh.(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

The Hazaribagh constituency, currently held by Union Minister Jayant Sinha, is seeing a close fight – with Congress’ Gopal Sahu and Communist Party of India’s Bhubaneswar Prasad Mehta also in the fray.