Lok Sabha Elections 2019 Phase 1: Here are the key contests between top candidates

The first phase of the Lok Sabha elections will begin on April 11 during which 93 seats in 20 states will be going to polls. Here is a list of key contests between top candidates from BJP, Congress, SP, BSP, RLD, TDP, TRS and AIMIM.

1.    Hyderabad (Telangana): The seat has an AIMIM stronghold since 1984 and this year party chief Asaduddin Owaisi will fighting to retain the seat. Telangana Rashtra Samithi which s in alliance with the party has put up a dummy candidate. It will be fielding Pusthe Srikanth in the poll.

Meanwhile, the BJP had come second and had trailed with over 2 lakh votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

2.    Khammam (Andhra Pradesh): Telugu Desam Party's (TDP) sitting MP Nama Nageswara Rao will take on Congress’ Renuka Chowdary who has held it twice since 1999 but lost the last two general elections.

3.    Arunachal west (Arunachal Pradesh): MoS Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju will take on former state CM Nabam Tuki from the Congress and NPP’s Khyoda Apik which otherwise is an NDA ally through NEDA.  An interesting fourth candidate from the JDS is Jarium Ete, Arunachal’s first woman candidate.

4.    Kaliabor (Assam): Congress' Gaurav Gogoi is the sitting MP in the constituency which is a Gogoi family bastion since 1991. The seat was won by Tarun Gogoi, his brother Dip Gogoi, and then by his son Gaurav. The party will take on Asom Gana Parishad (AGP).

5.    Baramulla (J&K): Baramulla district which was declared terrorist free will see People's Conference candidate Raja Ajaz Ali fighting for the seat. Ali is a former IGP of Kashmir police.

6.    Secundarabad (Telangana): BJP has dropped party veteran sitting MP and minister Bandaru Dattatreya in favour of G Kishan Reddy who is the Telangana BJP president. Reddy is pitted against Congress’ two time MP Anjan Yadav. 

7.    Nizamabad (Telangana): KCR's daughter K Kavitha will fight the polls against Madhu Yakshi Gowd of Congress. Over 170 farmers want Kavitha defeated. With the constituency having 185 candidates in the fray, the Election Commission had to make special arrangements for EVMs that can carry 185 candidates.

8.    Malkajgiri (Telangana): It is India’s largest Lok Sabha constituency in terms of voter count with over 31 lakhs voters.

9.    Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh): Congress turncoat former minister D Purandeshwari is on he BJP ticket. Janasena Party has given ticket to former CBI Joint director VV Laxminarayana but main contest between TDP’s M Sri Bharat and YSRCP’s MVV Satyanarayana.

10.   Guntur (Andhra Pradesh): Industrialist Jaydev Galla from TDP is Naidu troubleshooter in Delhi. He took on PM Narendra Modi in special category status debate in the Lok Sabha.

11.    Muzzafarnagar (Uttar Pradesh): Ajit Singh vs Sanjiv Balyan is a test case of where Jats swing. 

12.    Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh): Triangular contest in the seat where Congress’ Imran Masood, SP-BSP’s Fazlur Rahman, BJP’s Raghav Lakhanpal will fight. There are close to three lakh Dalits, six lakh Muslims in the constituency. The result will be dependant on the division of Muslim votes. Out of the five assembly seats, two is with with BJP and Congress and one with SP. Deeoband comes withiin this seat. Both Yogi and mahagathbandhan started campaign from Sahranpur.

13.    Kairana (Uttar Pradesh): The mahagathbandhan was tested here in the 2018 bypoll following the demise of Hukum Singh. Sitting MP Tabassum Hasan is on an SP  ticket with the coalition's support this time. BJP changed its candidate from Hukum Singh's daughter Mriganka Singh to local MLA Pradip Chaudhary.

14.    Baghpat (Uttar Pradesh): Another test case of gathbandhan as its candidate Jayant Chaudhary, who is the son of RLD chief Ajit Singh. Though he has moved from his traditional seat of Mathura against former Mumbai police chief and minister Satyapal Singh.

15.    Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh): Gen VK Singh is seeking re-election from the seat.

16.    Gautam Buddh Nagar (Uttar Pradesh): Minister Mahesh Sharma seeking re-election. The seta is a part of Delhi NCR

17.    Nagpur (Maharashtra): Nitin Gadkari will be contesting from the city where the RSS HQ is located. He will contest against turncoat Nana Patole who in last election had turned into a giant killer defeating Praful Patel from Bhandara-Gondia.

18.    Chandrapur (Maharashtra): MoS Home Affairs Hansraj Ahir who is a three time sitting MP will be contesting from the seat.

19.    Bastar (Chhattisgarh): A Maoist hotbed which has been held by the BJP since 1998 is this time under Congress regime. The BJP changed all its 11 candidates in Chattisgarh for the Lok Sabha polls after losing the assembly polls in the state.

20.    Alipurduar (West Bengal): TMC’s sitting MP Dasrath Tirkey against BJP’s John Barla. It is one of the seats BJP is expected to win as per survey ahead of the polls.

21.    Jamui (West Bengal): Chirag Paswan will contest from the seat. 

22.    Tura (Meghalaya): Agatha Sangma, sister of CM Conrad Sangma against Congress' Mukul Sangma who is a former CM

23.    Nainital–Udhamsingh Nagar (Uttarakhand): Former Congress CM Harish Rawat will contest against BJP state president Ajay Bhatt.

24.    Garhwal (Uttarakhand): BC Khanduri was denied a ticket to contest this time. His son Manish Khanduri is contesting from the Congress ticket against BJP’s state president Tirath Singh Rawat, who is a one time BC Khanduri protégé.

25.    Almora (Uttarakhand): MoS Textiles Minister Ajay Tamta will contest against Congress’ Pradip Tamta

26.   Lakshadweep: The union terroritory has a strategic importance. It is the smallest constituency of India at little over 60,000 population. PM Sayeed's son is trying to get his father’s seat back.

27    Andaman and Nicobar islands: BJP is in a direct fight with TMC. On a recent visit to the union territory, PM Narendra Modi had renamed three islands - Ross Island was renamed as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep, Neil Island as Shaheed Dweep and Havelock Island as Swaraj Dweep  

28.   Haridwar (Uttarakhand): The constituency of former CMs Harish Rawat and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.

29.   Tehri Garhwal (Uttarakhand): Constituency of former Congress CM Vijay Bahuguna and BJP’s veteran Bhagat Singh Koshiar who has been asked to step down.

30.   Cooch behar (West Bengal): Traditionaly the seat was with forward bloc but now it is with the TMC.

31.   Sikkim: Longest serving CM of India Pawan Chamling’s SDF has DB Katwal against breakaway party Sikkim Krantikari Morcha with Indrahand Subba as its candidate. Footballer Bhaichung Bhutia's Hamro Sikkim Party is also in the fray.

32.   Koraput (Odisha): It is the constituency of former chief minister Giridhar Gamang who defeated the Vajpayee govenment by one vote in 1998 using his vote as MP despite being the CM.

33.   Kalahandi (Odisha): BJP state president Basant Panda against BJD's Pushpendra Singh Deo. He is a local MLA and from the Kalahandi royal family. Congress’ Bhakta Charan Das is a three time MP. So it is a triangular contest.

34.    Berhampur (Odisha): Congress turncoat and former Union Minister Chandrasekhar Sahu is BJD candidate will fight against Congress’ Chandrasekhar Naidu. BJP has fielded Bhrigu Mahapatra.

35.    Nagaland: Single seat for the state with 60 assembly constituencies. Sitting NDPP MP and BJP ally Tokheho Yepthomi against National Peoples Party’ Hayithung Tungoe and Congress’ KL Chishi who is supported by the opposition NPF (Naga People’s Front) are the key players. 

36.    Mizoram: BJP’s Nirupam Chakma, MNF’s C Lalrosanga and independent candidate sports journalist Lalghinglova Hmar who is supported by the Congress party will fight it out in the state. The BJP is a marginal player.

37.    Shillong: Sitting Congress MP Vincent Pala against BJP’s Sanbor Shullai against United Democratic Party’s Jemino Mawthoh

38.    Tezpur (Assam): BJP's Pallab Lochan Das is a Himanta Sarma man…was given ticket after sitting MP Ram Prasad Sarmah resigned from the BJP.  Das is against Congress’ MGVK Bhanu.

39.    Arunachal East (Arunachal Pradesh): BJP president Tapir Gao will contest against Congress Lowangcha Wanglat.

40.    Meerut (Uttar Pradesh): The seat which happens to be part of NCR is the heartland of Jatland. It is a well off part of the sugar belt…sitting BJP MP Rajendra Agrawal will be seeking re-election the third time.

41.    Medak (Telangana): Indira Gandhi was the sitting MP from Medak when she was assassinated. KCR won this seat in 2014. It is a TRS bastion. KCR's assembly seat Gajwel is in this constituency. TRS’ K Prabhakar Reddy will contest against Gali Anil Kumar of Congress and M Raghunandan Rao of the BJP.

42.    Mahbubnagar (Telangana): Sitting MP AP Jithender Reddy has moved from TRS to BJP. Would he succeed minus the TRS cadres? KCR won 2009 elections from here before moving to Medak in 2014.

43.    Karimnagar (Telangana): KCR represented this constituency in 2004. Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao was MP from here in 12th and 13th Lok Sabha. Sitting MP and TRS deputy leader in Lok Sabha B Vinod Kumar is against 2014 rival Ponnam Prabhakar of Congress and BJP’s Bandi Sanjay Kumar.

44.    Gaya (Bihar): Former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi is a joint mahagathbandhan candidate against JDU’s Vijay Kumar Manjhi. The BJP held this seat but gave it to JDU as part of seat sharing deal.