In fray: Akhilesh to Adhir, Mahua to Giriraj; BJP, allies won 47 of these seats in 2019

New Delhi: AS THE BJP and the opposition parties sharpen their attack against each other, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleging that corruption was the common character of INDIA bloc parties and the Congress arguing that a third term for the BJP would mean enslavement of the poor, Dalits and tribals, 96 constituencies across 10 states and Union Territories will vote Monday in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections.

In 2019, the seats going to polls in the fourth phase had recorded an overall voter turnout of 69.12%. With the first three phases this time recording a dip in turnout as compared to last time, it is to be seen whether the voting on Monday bucks the trend.

In the ongoing polls so far, the turnout in Phase 1 stood at 66.14% against 69.89% in those seats in 2019; 66.71% in Phase 2 against 69.64% last time; and 65.68% in Phase 3 against 67.3% in 2019.

Apart from the Lok Sabha voting, the spotlight on Monday will be on the dead heat race in the Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, where a renascent TDP is hoping to dislodge the YSRCP. Voting will simultaneously be held in all 175 Assembly seats and 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in Andhra Pradesh.

The contest in Andhra is mainly between the ruling YSRCP led by Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy and the NDA alliance comprising the BJP, Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP and Pawan Kalyan-led Jana Sena Party (JSP).

The Congress, which had been in the political wilderness after the bifurcation of the state in 2014, is also in the fray.

In neighbouring Telangana, where voting will be held in all the 17 Lok Sabha constituencies, the equations are different. The Congress, which stormed to power in the state just months ago ousting the BRS government, is hoping to register a strong performance. The BJP, too, is hopeful of increasing its tally. The BRS, which ruled the state since its formation a decade ago, is facing the heat.

Apart from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where Lok Sabha elections will end Monday, voting will take place in 13 seats of Uttar Pradesh, 11 seats of Maharashtra, eight seats each in West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, five seats in Bihar, four each in Jharkhand and Odisha (the election exercise starts in both states) and one seat in Jammu and Kashmir. As many as 28 Assembly seats of Odisha are also going to polls in this phase.

Campaigning in key states on Sunday, Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah tore into the Opposition.

Addressing rallies in Bengal, Modi claimed corruption was the common character of INDIA bloc parties. Targeting the ruling Trinamool Congress in the state, he said the party has made corruption a “full-time business”. He also alleged that under the TMC rule, Hindus have become second-class citizens in West Bengal and asserted that “as long as Modi is here, no one can repeal the CAA law”.

Addressing a rally in Gandhi family bastion of Rae Bareli, Shah said senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi had spent more than 70 per cent of her MP funds on minorities.

Returning the fire in equal measure, Congress president Malikarjun Kharge, who addressed a meeting in Dhule in Maharashtra, said that “before Independence, the poor, Dalits and tribals were treated like slaves. If you give a third term to Modi and Shah, the same situation will repeat. We will become slaves again.”

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said the ongoing Lok Sabha election is between people who want to “change the Constitution” and those protecting it.

Some of the key seats in this round are:

Bihar: Begusarai, where Union minister Giriraj Singh is in the fray against CPI’s Awadhesh Rai; Ujiyarpur, where Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Raiis aiming at a hat-trick; Munger, where sitting MP and former JD (U) president Rajiv Ranjan Singh ‘Lalan’ is up against RJD’s Kumari Anita.

West Bengal: Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is eying a sixth straight victory from Baharampur where his opponent is former cricketer and TMC candidate Yusuf Pathan. TMC’s firebrand leader Mohua Moitra, who was expelled from Lok Sabha over cash-for-query allegations, is in the fray again from Krishnanagar. In Asansol, TMC’s actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha is pitted against BJP’s S S Ahluwalia and in Bardhaman-Durgapur, BJP’s former state unit president Dilip Ghosh is fighting TMC’s Kirti Azad.

The other keenly watched contests are that of AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi(Hyderabad), SP chief Akhilesh Yadav (Kannauj, UP) BJP’s Pankaja Munde (Beed, Maharashtra), Andhra Pradesh Congress president Y S Sharmila (Kadapa) and Union minister Ajay Kumar Mishra Teni (Kheri, UP).

The EC said all arrangements have been put in place for Monday’s polling. According to the poll body, a total of 17.70 crore voters, including 8.97 crore men and 8.73 core women, have been enrolled in phase four.

Excerpts: various Indian news Media