New Delhi: The stars facing the electorate on Thursday are Nandan Nilekani, Shatrughan Sinha, Ajit Jogi, Misa Bharti, Ramkripal Yadav, Jayant Sinha, B S Yeddyurappa, Rajyawardhan Singh Rathore, Jaswant Singh, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Baichung Bhutiya and Ghulan Nabi Azad.
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In Bihar’s Patliputra, Lalu Yadav’s oldest daughter Misa Bharti is fighting her first election against BJP’s Ram Kirpal Yadav, a man she refers to as ‘chacha’ (uncle). Ram Kirpal Yadav, once a close aide of Lalu Yadav, quit Rashtriya Janata Dal after being denied a ticket to contest from this constituency. Janata Dal (United)’s Ranjan Yadav, who is the sitting MP, is also an old RJD hand.
In Patna Saheb, also in Bihar, BJP’s Shatrughan Sinha is facing a challenge from within. A section of BJP workers have been protesting against his candidature, complaining that he neglected the constituency.
In neighbouring Jharkhand, senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha’s son Jayant is debuting from the Hazaribagh constituency. His rival is another young candidate, Saurabh Narayan Singh of Congress.
One of the most watched contests in tomorrow’s round of polling is in Bangalore South, where Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani is Congress candidate against BJP’s Ananth Kumar. Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded child rights activist Nina Nayak.Â
BJP candidates BS Yeddyurappa in Shimoga and B Sriramulu in Bellary have been under scrutiny for corruption. Mr Sriramulu was taken back into the party recently despite senior leader Sushma Swaraj’s objections.
In Rajasthan’s Barmer constituency, it is a prestige battle for BJP veteran Jaswant Singh, who was expelled from the party for contesting as an independent candidate after the party chose to field Congress import Sonaram Chowdhury.
The Jaipur Rural seat will see an interesting battle between Olympian Rajyavardhan Rathore, who is running for Parliament as a BJP candidate, and Congress veteran CP Joshi.Â
Guna in Madhya Pradesh will see Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia facing a tough challenge from BJP’s Jaibhan Singh Pavaiya, a former chief of the Bajrang Dal, a fringe group linked to the BJP’s ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
In West Bengal, former football player Bhaichung Bhutia is contesting as the Trinamool Congress candidate in Darjeeling. His main rival is SS Ahluwalia of BJP.
In J&K, Congress leader and Union Minister Gulam Nabi Azad’s fate will be locked in EVMs in Udhampur Lok Sabha constituency where he is in direct fight with BJP’s Jintender Singh.
In Chhattisgarh, Rahul’s close aide Ajit Jogi will face a tough contest from BJP’s sitting MP, Chandulal Sahu at Mahasamund seat.
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