Big poll battle: Polling in Jammu and Bla in JK, 89 other Parl seats in 19 states, UTs

Srinagar: After intense campaigning by political parties, which witnessed no-holds-barred attacks against leaders and accusations, the stage is set for polling in Jammu and Baramulla parliamentary constituencies of Jammu & Kashmir and 89 Lok Sabha constituencies in other 19 states and Union Territories today in the first of the mega seven-phase electoral exercise. Voting for Assembly polls will also be held in Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and some seats in Odisha simultaneously.
Lok Sabha polls first phase
The eight constituencies in western UP that go to polls will be closely watched as there is a lot riding on the outcome. Three Central ministers, General V K Singh, Mahesh Sharma and Satyapal Singh, and one former minister, Sanjeev Balyan, are fighting to retain their seats. The April 11 poll will be the first major test of whether the Gathbandhan of Mayawati’s BSP, Akhilesh Yadav’s SP, and Ajit’s RLD actually work on the ground.Also, a total of 14 parliamentary constituencies out of 25 in the eight northeastern states will vote in the first phase of Lok Sabha polls.
Jammu and Kashmir
Seats going to polls (2): Baramulla, Jammu
In Baramulla, the main contest is between Mohammad Akbar Lone of the National Conference, Abdul Qayoom Wani of the Peoples Democratic Party and former Inspector General of Police Raja Aijaz Ali of People’s Conference. The main contest in Jammu will be between Jugal Kishore Sharma of BJP and Raman Bhalla of Congress.
Uttar Pradesh
Seats going to polls (8): Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar
While in 2014, the BJP performed exceptionally well in the western UP, this time the alliance of SP-BSP-RLD may queer the pitch for the saffron party. Six of the eight seats are in the sugar cane belt with a high proportion of Jats and Muslims.
The elections are also being seen as a referendum of the two-year government of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The key issue in this region is unpaid cane arrears to the farmers by the sugar mills and the fact that Modi had promised that all arrears would be cleared by the first week of April.
Andhra Pradesh
Seats going to polls (25): Araku, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Amalapuram, Rajamundry, Narasapuram, Eluru, Machilipatnam, Vijayawada, Guntur, Narasaraopet, Bapatla, Ongole, Nandyal, Kurnool
In Andhra Pradesh, voters will cast two votes each to elect 25 MPs and MLAs to the 175-member Assembly. The elections will be a major test for Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu after he quit the NDA last year on the issue of special category status for the state.
Naidu, YSR Congress Party chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and Jana Sena leader and actor Pawan Kalyan are among the key contestants in Assembly elections.
Naidu is seeking re-election from Kuppam in his native Chittoor district, while Jagan is contesting once again from Pulivendula, his family stronghold in Kadapa district. Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh is making his electoral debut, contesting from Mangalagiri in the capital region of Amaravati.
Telangana
Seats going to polls (17): Adilabad, Peddapalle, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Zahirabad, Medak, Malkagiri, Secunderabad, Hyderabad, Chevella, Mahbubnagar, Nagarkurnool, Nalgonda, Bhongir, Warangal, Mahabubabad, Khammam
This is the first general election in the state after bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and creation of Telangana in June 2014. The TRS, headed by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, will be high on confidence after its massive victory in the Assembly elections four months ago. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the TRS bagged 11 seats, and the Congress two.
All eyes will also be on Nizamabad constituency, where more than 170 farmers are in the fray to highlight their problems. Rao’s daughter K Kavitha is seeking re-election from this segment.
Besides her, prominent candidates include senior Congress leader Renuka Chowdhary (Khammam) and Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee President Uttam Kumar Reddy (Nalgonda) and TPCC Working Presidents A Revanth Reddy (Malkajgiri) and Ponnam Prabhakar (Karimnagar).
Maharashtra
Seats going to polls (7): Wardha, Ramtek, Nagpur, Bhandara-Gondiya, Gadchiroli-Chimur, Chandrapur, Yavatmal-Washim
Of Maharashtra’s 48 constituencies, voting will be held in seven constituencies of Vidharbha, with the focus on Nagpur — the headquarters of the RSS — and Chandrapur, the hometown of Mohan Bhagwat, where Nitin Gadkari, who brought the Metro to Nagpur and Union Minister Hansraj Ahir will be seeking another term on his development work in the area. The elections will see a direct fight between the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance and the Congress-NCP-led combine.
Uttarakhand
Seats going to polls (5): Tehri Garhwal, Garhwal, Almora, Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar, Hardwar
In Uttarakhand, two former Chief Ministers are in the fray — Harish Rawat from Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank from Haridwar. Congress has fielded Manish Khanduri, son of senior BJP leader Maj Gen BC Khanduri from Pauri. In 2009, the Congress had won all the seats while the BJP wrested them in 2014.
Odisha
Seats going to polls (4): Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Berhampur, Koraput
Odisha Chief Minister Patnaik is seeking a fifth term and his party appears to be confident in rural areas, where the BJD’s welfare schemes over the last 19 years continue to have a resonance. But in towns and the villages nearby, Patnaik and the BJD’s conch is engaged in a fierce fight with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP’s lotus.
On one side, is the BJD’s strong network built over the years at the ground level with a slew of welfare schemes. On the other, is the BJP’s propaganda blitzkrieg that has projected Modi as an “strong and daring leader”.
North-East
Arunachal Pradesh (Arunachal Pradesh West, Arunachal Pradesh East); Assam (Tezpur, Kalibor, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Lakhimpur); Manipur (Outer Manipur, Inner Manipur); Meghalaya (Shillong, Tura); Mizoram; Nagaland
In the North East, of the two seats in Arunachal Pradesh, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju is seeking re-election from Arunachal West. Four seats in Assam will go to polls, with former CM Tarun Gogoi’s son Gaurav Gogoi testing poll waters from Kaliabor.
Along with the Lok Sabha polls, assembly polls will also be held simultaneously for the 60-member Arunachal Pradesh Assembly and the 32-member Sikkim Assembly on Thursday.