Thiruvananthapuram to Rae Bareli: 15 intense contests to watch out for

As the nation waits with bated breath for the results to the 2024 Lok Sabha election to be declared on Tuesday (June 4), some seats and contests will attract an extra dose of attention. The stakes are enormously high for many leaders, and some constituencies will be keenly watched simply because of the names associated with them. These are by no means the only high-voltage battles, but we have restricted our list to 15 contests that will grab eyeballs on D-Day.

NARENDRA MODI VS AJAY RAI IN VARANASI, UP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has contested the Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi for the third time. In 2014, he defeated AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal by some 372,000 votes and Samajwadi Party’s Shalini Yadav by close to 480,000 votes in 2019.

The Congress has fielded Ajay Rai, who was also its candidate from the constituency in 2014 and 2019. In the past two polls and also in 2009 (when BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi had won the Varanasi seat), he came a distant third.

RAHUL GANDHI VS DINESH PRATAP SINGH IN RAE BARELI, UP

Like in 2019, Rahul Gandhi has contested two seats. One of them is Rae Bareli, a seat vacated by his mother Sonia Gandhi as she moved on to the Rajya Sabha earlier this year.

This is a huge prestige issue for the former Congress president, as the seat has remained with the party since 1952, barring 1977 (Janata Party), 1996 and 1999 (BJP). All eyes will be on him as he lost the other UP bastion of the Gandhi family, Amethi, to the BJP’s Smriti Irani last time after three successive terms.

Taking him on in Rae Bareli is the BJP’s Dinesh Pratap Singh, a Congress turncoat who had bagged 38 per cent votes in the 2019 contest against Sonia.

SMRITI IRANI VS KISHORI LAL SHARMA IN AMETHI, UP

Amethi, once the pocket borough of the Gandhi family, has seen fierce contests in the past two Lok Sabha polls.

The BJP’s Smriti Irani, who wrested the seat from Rahul Gandhi in 2019 after losing to him in 2014, is seeking a re-election from the constituency, while the Congress has fielded Kishori Lal Sharma, a close aide of the Gandhi family.

This is for the first time in 25 years that a Gandhi family member has not contested the Lok Sabha polls from Amethi.

SHASHI THAROOR VS RAJEEV CHANDRASHEKHAR IN THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, KERALA

Sitting MP and former Union minister Shashi Tharoor is seeking a re-election from Thiruvananthapuram for a fourth consecutive term.

He is facing BJP leader and Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who has made his Lok Sabha poll debut and wants to open the saffron party’s account in Kerala. The other prominent leader in the contest is CPI’s Pannyan Raveendran, who had won the elections from the constituency way back in 2005.

MAHUA MOITRA VS RAJMATA AMRITA ROY, KRISHNANAGAR, WEST BENGAL

Firebrand TMC leader Mahua Moitra, who was expelled from the Lok Sabha for “unethical conduct” last year, had made an impressive Lok Sabha poll debut in 2019 by defeating her BJP rival by a margin of 63,218 votes. The articulate politician is a favourite of Opposition supporters for her fiery speeches in Parliament. However, the 2024 polls won’t exactly be a cakewalk for Moitra because of her very public and humiliating exit from Parliament, believe poll experts.

The BJP’s candidate Amrita Roy, though a greenhorn in politics, is from the erstwhile royal family of Krishnanagar and is the “Rajmata of the Rajbari” (Queen Mother of the royal palace) for locals. This royal family is a revered one in Bengal even today, due to the legacy of Maharaja Krishna Chandra Roy’s 55-year regime before the British rule. He was known for his wise and visionary rule during the 18th century, for implementing many administrative reforms, promoting arts, and Bengali culture.

RAHUL GANDHI VS ANNIE RAJA IN WAYANAD, KERALA

This is one of the most exciting contests in Kerala, with sitting MP Rahul Gandhi facing CPI leader Annie Raja (who is also party general secretary D Raja’s wife) as well as BJP state president K Surendran in the second constituency he is contesting — Wayanad. The battle has drawn a lot of attention because the CPI is an ally of the Congress in the INDIA bloc. However, matters are different in Kerala, where the fight is between the Left’s LDF and the Congress-led UDF.

KANGANA RANAUT VS VIRBHADRA SINGH, MANDI, HP

Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut has grabbed major headlines these polls as she made her political debut as the BJP candidate from the Mandi Lok Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh. And she is facing another high-profile candidate, the Congress’s Vikramaditya Singh, son of the iconic Virbhadra Singh, a six-time former chief minister of the Himalayan state.

Vikramaditya is not only a minister in the current state government but was also in the news for his differences with CM Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu. Though it had seemed for several days he would resign from the party as the Congress government faced a crisis earlier this year, he ultimately stayed on. This battle will be keenly watched for sure.

BANSURI SWARAJ VS SOMNATH BHARTI IN NEW DELHI

The BJP has replaced two-time MP and Union minister of state Meenakshi Lekhi from this seat with Bansuri Swaraj. Though the latter is a debutant, she is the daughter of the immensely popular late Union minister Sushma Swaraj. That gives Bansuri an advantage.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded Malviya Nagar MLA Somnath Bharti from the seat. With the Congress and AAP contesting the Lok Sabha polls in alliance in the national capital, the contest in the high-profile constituency has acquired added significance and urgency.

BHUPESH BAGHEL VS SANTOSH PANDEY IN RAJNANDGAON, CHHATTISGARH

The Congress has fielded its former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel from the Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha seat in Chhattisgarh, a BJP bastion for more than three decades and seen as the turf of its former three-time CM Raman Singh.

He is locked in a contest with the BJP’s sitting MP Santosh Pandey. The BJP hasn’t lost this seat since 2009. The Congress has put one of its strong candidates in an attempt to break the convention and win from the BJP’s stronghold. Baghel is a six-time MLA from Patan.

PARESH DHANANI VS PARSHOTTAM RUPALA, RAJKOT, GUJARAT

History repeated itself after 22 years as the Congress’s Paresh Dhanani took on the BJP’s Parshottam Rupala in Rajkot. If records are anything to go by, the odds are stacked in favour of the senior Congress leader, while the BJP veteran has been facing Kshatriya ire over some controversial remarks.

The last time the two Patel leaders had faced off in a poll battle was in 2002. Despite a strong wave of support for Narendra Modi and the BJP in the post-riots phase, Dhanani, then only 26, had turned out to be a giant-killer, beating the then three-time sitting MLA and Agriculture Minister Rupala from the Amreli Assembly seat.

Not only that, Dhanani is known to have won every time he has been pitted against a BJP stalwart. In the 2012 Assembly polls, he defeated the BJP’s Dilip Sanghani, while in 2017, he went on to defeat seven-time MLA, Bavku Undhadh of the BJP, from Amreli.

Can he do it again? It will be clear by the end of day on June 4.

RAHUL KASWAN VS DEVENDRA JHAJHARIA IN CHURU, RAJASTHAN

Two-time MP from Churu, Rahul Kaswan, resigned from the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls and was fielded by the Congress from the same seat. He is pitted against paralympic champion Devendra Jhajharia who has contested the election for the BJP. Padma Bhushan javelin thrower, Jhajharia, is a two-time Paralympics gold medallist and one-time silver medallist.

NAKUL NATH VS VIJAY KUMAR SAHU IN CHHINDWARA, MP

Vivek ‘Bunty’ Sahu, who unsuccessfully contested the 2023 Assembly election against former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath, has challenged the Congress veteran’s son and sitting MP Nakul Nath in the Lok Sabha elections. Nakul Nath is seeking re-election from Chhindwara, which has been Congress veteran and nine-time MP Kamal Nath’s stronghold for more than four decades.

BY RAGHAVENDRA VS KS ESHWARAPPA IN SHIVAMOGGA, KARNATAKA

The Shivamogga Lok Sabha seat in Karnataka is considered the fortress of former chief minister BS Yediyurappa’s family. However, this time, it is all set for a dramatic turn of events. BJP senior leader and OBC face KS Eshwarappa has contested the seat as an Independent candidate against party veteran Yediyurappa’s son BY Raghavendra for the Shivamogga Lok Sabha seat.

SAMBIT PATRA VS ARUP PATNAIK, PURI, ODISHA

In the Puri Lok Sabha constituency, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra will make a second attempt to bag the seat, which he lost to BJD veteran Pinaki Misra in 2019. Mishra, a four-term MP from Puri, however, has been dropped by the BJD this time, and former IPS officer Arup Patnaik has been fielded in his place. Patra also landed himself in the soup recently by saying “Lord Jagannath is a devotee of PM Narendra Modi”. So, it will be interesting to see whether Patra’s fortunes shine.

UJJWAL NIKAM VS VARSHA GAIKWAD, MUMBAI NORTH CENTRAL, MAHARASHTRA

High-profile advocate Ujjwal Nikam, the prosecutor in a slew of terror cases, including the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case and the 26/11 terror attack case, made his political debut with nothing less than a Lok Sabha poll contest from the Mumbai North Central constituency. Facing him is Mumbai Regional Congress chief and four-term Dharavi legislator Varsha Gaikwad.