The Battle for Varanasi: Narendra Modi vs Ajay Rai
Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks his third victory in Varanasi, facing the Congress’s Ajay Rai, who also contested in 2014 and 2019. Previously, BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi held this seat.
In 2014, Modi defeated AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal and won against Samajwadi Party’s Shalini Yadav in 2019.
Rae Bareli Showdown: Rahul Gandhi vs Dinesh Pratap Singh
Rahul Gandhi, a three-time MP from Amethi, now contests in Rae Bareli against BJP’s Dinesh Pratap Singh. The seat has been a Congress stronghold since 1952, with few exceptions.
The seat, which until February was held by his mother Sonia Gandhi, has remained with the Congress since 1952 barring three elections – 1977, (Janata Party), 1996 and 1999 (BJP).
Wayanad’s Contest: Rahul Gandhi vs Annie Raja
Rahul Gandhi faces CPI’s Annie Raja in Wayanad, Kerala. Both parties are part of the INDIA alliance, adding intrigue to the contest. Rahul Gandhi had shifted to Wayanad in 2019, choosing it as its second Lok Sabha constituency in the face of the challenge that the BJP’s Smriti Irani posed at Amethi, the Gandhi family’s traditional bastion.
As it happened, Smriti Irani defeated Rahul Gandhi, who kept his Lok Sabha membership by virtue of his victory in Wayanad.
Amethi’s Clash: Smriti Irani vs Kishori Lal Sharma
The BJP’s Smriti Irani, who claimed Amethi from Rahul Gandhi in 2019, competes against the Congress’s Kishori Lal Sharma, a Gandhi family loyalist of decades. This marks the first absence of a Gandhi family member in Amethi in 25 years. Sharma’s nomination was announced by the Congress after long deliberations among the Gandhis and their advisors.
Thiruvananthapuram’s Race: Shashi Tharoor vs Rajeev Chandrasekhar
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor aims for a fourth term in Thiruvananthapuram, challenged by the BJP’s Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Union minister, and CPI’s Pannyan Raveendran, who had won the elections from the constituency in 2005.
Baharampur’s Duel: Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury vs Yusuf PathanAdhir Ranjan Chowdhury of the Congress aims to defend his Baharampur seat in West Bengal against cricketer-turned-politician Yusuf Pathan, who was given the ticket by the TMC.
Chowdhury, the West Bengal Congress unit president, has represented Baharampur five times as an MP since he was first elected from the seat in 1999. He is gearing up to seek a sixth term from the constituency. The Congress has not yet announced its candidate from the seat.
New Delhi’s Contest: Bansuri Swaraj vs Somnath Bharti
Bansuri Swaraj of BJP takes on AAP’s Somnath Bharti in New Delhi, a seat of heightened significance due to the Congress-AAP alliance.
The BJP replaced two-time MP and Union minister of state Meenakshi Lekhi from this seat with Bansuri Swaraj, the daughter of late Union minister Sushma Swaraj. Somnath Bharti is the Malviya Nagar MLA in Delhi. With the Congress and AAP contesting the Lok Sabha polls in alliance in Delhi, the contest in the high-profile constituency has acquired added significance and urgency.
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