New Delhi: In the first phase of Lok Sabha elections today, i.e. on 19th April, voting is taking place on a total of 102 seats in 21 states and union territories. Of these, 1625 candidates are trying their luck. Many high profile leaders of the country are also included in these. All 39 seats in politically important states Tamil Nadu and several seats in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Maharashtra are included.
The star leaders contesting in the first phase are as follows-
Nitin Gadkari: Nitin Gadkari, a senior BJP leader and the country’s longest serving Road Transport and Highways Minister, will try to score a hat-trick from Nagpur. He reached Lok Sabha from this seat in 2014 and 2019. Gadkari’s work in expanding India’s road connectivity has been praised even by his political rivals. Gadkari is facing competition from Congress’s Vikas Thackeray for the high-profile seat.
Kiren Rijiju: Union Minister Kiren Rijiju is the BJP candidate from Arunachal West. He won from this seat in the general elections of 2014 and 2019. The former Law Minister, who is currently the Minister of Earth Sciences and Food Processing Industries, will try to win the election for the third time. This time in Arunachal West, he is being challenged by former Chief Minister and Congress candidate Nabam Tuki.
K Annamalai: He is one of the most talked about candidates of BJP in this Lok Sabha elections. Of. Annamalai is the head of BJP Tamil Nadu unit. He has been a former IPS officer. Before entering politics, he had resigned from service in 2019. He is a graduate in engineering as well as an MBA from IIM-Lucknow. DMK has fielded Ganapathy P Rajkumar to contest Mr Annamalai in Coimbatore.
Tamilisai Soundararajan: Veteran BJP leader in Tamil Nadu, has served as the state chief for a long time. Sundararajan was named the Governor of Telangana in 2019. She has also held the additional charge of Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry. With the BJP working hard to emerge as a strong force in Tamil Nadu, he has been brought back into the electoral fray. A doctor by profession, Sundararajan also taught at the Chennai Medical College before his full-time stint in politics. He is contesting against sitting MP and DMK candidate Thamizachi Thangapandian.
K Kanimozhi: Kanimozhi, a two-time Rajya Sabha MP from DMK, reached Parliament after winning the Lok Sabha elections in 2019. One of the leading voices of the opposition in Parliament, he is also the main face of the DMK in the national capital. In her first Lok Sabha election, she won the 2019 election by a margin of over 3 lakh votes, with BJP’s Tamilisai Soundararajan coming second. Kanimozhi, step-sister of DMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, is pitted against AIADMK’s Sivasamy Velumani and BJP-backed Tamil Maanila Congress candidate SDR Vijayaseelan.
Sarbananda Sonowal: He is contesting from Dibrugarh Lok Sabha seat as a BJP candidate. A Union Minister and former Chief Minister of Assam, Sonowal is a current Rajya Sabha MP. He is contesting from Lurinjyoti Gogoi of Assam Jatiya Parishad, who is supported by India Alliance. Gogoi, a prominent face of the anti-CAA movement in Assam and Sonowal’s rival, started his political career as a student leader with the All Assam Students Union.
Jitin Prasad: Two years after joining the BJP ahead of the 2022 Uttar Pradesh elections, Jitin Prasad has got the election pass for Pilibhit. He has got the place of current BJP MP Varun Gandhi. Prasad, once a trusted aide of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, won the 2004 and 2009 Lok Sabha elections, but had to face defeat in the 2014 and 2019 elections. After joining BJP, he was appointed minister in the Yogi Adityanath government. The Brahmin leader is contesting against five-time Samajwadi Party MLA and former minister Bhagwat Saran Gangwar. Gangwar also has the support of Congress. Anees Ahmed Khan of Bahujan Samaj Party is also trying his luck in the field.
Karti Chidambaram: Congress leader Karti Chidambaram would like to maintain his dominance on Sivagangai seat of Tamil Nadu. He won this seat for the first time in the 2019 elections. His father and former Home Minister P Chidambaram has been elected seven times from this seat. Karti Chidambaram had to face a crushing defeat in Sivagangai in 2014, finishing fourth, but made a strong comeback after winning the seat in 2019. This time, the 46-year-old is facing off against AIADMK’s A Xavierdas and BJP’s Devanathan Yadav T.
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FIRST PUBLISHED: April 19, 2024, 05:51 IST