Going just by the number of constituencies, Phase 5 of the Lok Sabha elections may seem like the least important one because only 49 seats will be voting. One look at some of the constituencies and names included in the list, however, reveals how important the phase actually is. 

Here are some of the key battles that will take place today:

Rahul Gandhi vs Dinesh Pratap Singh 

Having suffered a shock defeat at the hands of the BJP’s Smriti Irani in 2019, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is contesting again from Uttar Pradesh for his second seat, in addition to Kerala’s Wayanad. Instead of Amethi, which he has represented as an MP thrice, Mr Gandhi has opted to fight from the family’s last remaining bastion in the state, Raebareli, which was won by his mother, Sonia Gandhi, five times. 

Facing off against him is the BJP’s Dinesh Pratap Singh, a former Congress leader who switched in 2018 and lost to Sonia Gandhi in the general elections the year after that by a margin of about 1.7 lakh votes. Mr Singh’s family is seen to have a good hold on Raebareli and he has said that the departure of the “fake Gandhis” from the constituency is certain. 

Smriti Irani vs KL Sharma

In 2019, the BJP’s Smriti Irani managed to convince voters in Amethi, a Gandhi family bastion, that she was a better alternative than their three-time MP Rahul Gandhi. With no one from the Gandhi family contesting from the constituency this time, Ms Irani, who is also a Union minister, has said an “ordinary BJP worker” has sent “the first family of Indian politics” packing. 

Her opponent from the seat is Congress’ KL Sharma, a Gandhi family loyalist who has worked in the constituency for nearly 40 years. Winning in Amethi would be crucial for the Congress, which had managed to achieve victory only in one seat in Uttar Pradesh in 2019, down from the two it had won in 2014.

Rajnath Singh vs Ravidas Mehrotra

Lucknow is a prestige constituency for the BJP because former Prime Minister and one of its biggest leaders, Atal Bihari Vajpayee had won it five times. It is also a party bastion and the BJP has held it since 1991. Defence Minister and former BJP president Rajnath Singh contested from Lucknow for the first time in 2014 and won again in 2019, with his vote margin rising by 70,000 between the two elections.

The main contest this time is between Mr Singh, who is also a former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Ravidas Mehrotra of the Samajwadi Party, which is fighting the elections in an alliance with the Congress. Mr Mehrotra is the MLA from Lucknow Central and is confident despite facing an uphill battle. “The biggest giants have fallen before the people and this is an election. You never know what can happen,” he has said.

Omar Abdullah vs Sajad Lone vs Engineer Rashid

Jammu and Kashmir’s five seats are voting in five phases and today is the turn of Baramulla. An enthusiastic campaign is being run by all sides and the contest between the National Conference’s Omar Abdullah, People’s Conference Chairperson Sajad Lone and jailed leader Abdul Rashid Sheikh aka Engineer Rashid, who is contesting as an Independent, is a keenly watched one. 

Mr Abdullah, a former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, who has also won from the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency thrice, has been one of the staunchest opponents of the abrogation of Article 370, which granted special status to the erstwhile state. His campaign is centred around the Centre’s 2019 move and the threat it poses to the existence and identity of the people in the Union Territory.

The National Conference leader has accused Mr Lone of being the proxy candidate for the BJP, which is not contesting any of the three seats in the Kashmir region. The People’s Conference chief is being supported by Altaf Bukhari’s Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party and has also got tacit support from the BJP, which has asked people in Kashmir to vote for anyone but the National Conference and its former ally, the Peoples Democratic Party, which is headed by Mehbooba Mufti. 

Queering the pitch for both senior leaders is Engineer Rashid, whose campaign, run by his son, 26-year-old son Abrar Rashid, is seeing a surprising amount of traction. Engineer Rashid is in jail in a terror funding case and Ghulam Nabi Azad’s Democratic Progressive Azad Party has also announced support for him. 

Piyush Goyal vs Bhushan Patil

Maharashtra is seeing a unique election this time with two of its biggest regional parties, the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), being split and their factions facing off against each other. The BJP is allied with the Eknath Shinde group of the Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP while the Congress is part of an alliance with the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar).

As part of its decision to make as many ministers as possible contest the Lok Sabha polls, Piyush Goyal, the Union Minister of Commerce and Industries, has been fielded from the Mumbai North Constituency. The leader of the Rajya Sabha is contesting his first Lok Sabha election and has been labelled an “outsider”, a tag he has strongly contested. What is working in his favour, however, is that the constituency is seen as one of the BJP’s strongest in Maharashtra and had been won by a margin of 4.6 lakh votes in 2019.  

Mr Patil, who is the vice president of the Mumbai Congress, has said there is no such thing as a strong seat and that he will emerge as a giant killer. The Congress leader said he has risen up the ranks in the party from the grassroots, is a “son of the soil” and has worked in the region for decades.

Amethi:

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday attacked BJP’s Amethi Lok Sabha seat candidate and sitting MP Smriti Irani, alleging that the region has “suffered” in the last five years as the BJP never thought about its development.

She was here to seek support for Congress’ candidate from the seat Kishori Lal Sharma, who she said has “dedicated his entire life to Amethi”. Priyanka Gandhi, who is the general secretary in the Congress, held a roadshow in Jasi town on the last day of campaigning for the seat that goes to polls on May 20 in the fifth round of the seven-phase general elections.

“He (Sharma) has been associated with Amethi for the last 40 years. He was associated with my father (Rajiv Gandhi) here, he also worked with my mother (Sonia Gandhi) and my elder brother Rahul Gandhi. He has dedicated his entire life to Amethi,” she said while addressing a gathering.

During the roadshow, which began from the Jais bus stand and ended at the Navjeet Intersection, Priyanka Gandhi and Sharma were seen waving at and greeting people from a vehicle. Flower petals were showered on them as the vehicle passed through the town.

“Amethi is my home and family, we have never stayed away from it and never will,” said Priyanka Gandhi, who was in Amethi and Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh to campaign for Sharma and Rahul Gandhi, respectively.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Rahul Gandhi had contested from Wayanad in Kerala and Amethi. He won from Wayanad but lost Amethi to Irani.

Targeting Ms Irani, the Congress leader said, “Amethi has suffered a lot in the last five years…” and “these people never thought about its development”. “Rahul was defeated (in 2019) as they mislead you,” she said.

“We understand our responsibility because Amethi is my home and family. We will keep working for this family. Along with Kishori Lal Sharma ji, Rahul Gandhi has also said this is my family and I will keep working for Amethi and Rae Bareli,” Priyanka Gandhi said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Union Minister Smriti Irani questioned Congress leader Rahul Gandhi after the latter accepted an invitation to debate Prime Minister Narendra Modi on crucial election issues. Ms Irani questioned Mr Gandhi’s ability to engage in a debate with someone of Prime Minister Modi’s stature, given his reluctance to contest in his historical stronghold, Amethi. 

The Amethi constituency had been synonymous with the Gandhi family’s political legacy, represented by Mr Gandhi since 2004 until his defeat in 2019. The Congress leader last week filed his nomination papers from the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat, a constituency held by his mother Sonia Gandhi for the last two decades. 

Responding to Mr Gandhi’s challenge for a debate, Ms Irani, the BJP Lok Sabha candidate from Amethi, said, “Firstly, the person who does not have the courage to contest against a normal BJP worker in his so-called castle, should refrain from boasting. Secondly, who wants to sit at level with PM Modi and have a debate, I want to ask him if is he a PM candidate of the INDI alliance?”

Mr Gandhi welcomed the proposal for a public debate, expressing eagerness for either himself or Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge to participate. Mr Gandhi’s acceptance of the debate invitation came in response to Justice (Retd) Madan B Lokur, Justice (Retd) Ajit P Shah, and journalist N Ram, who had extended the invitation in a non-partisan effort to foster informed decision-making among citizens.

Mr Gandhi revealed that both him and Mr Kharge have agreed that such a debate would help people understand “our respective vision and enable them to make an informed choice”.

“It is also critical to put to rest any unsubstantiated allegations attributed to our respective parties. As the principal parties fighting the election, the public deserve to hear from their leaders directly,” Gandhi said in his letter replying to the invitation. “Accordingly, either myself or the Congress president would be pleased to participate in such a debate.” 

स्वस्थ लोकतंत्र के लिए प्रमुख दलों का एक मंच से अपना विज़न देश के समक्ष रखना एक सकारात्मक पहल होगी।

कांग्रेस इस पहल का स्वागत करती है और चर्चा का निमंत्रण स्वीकार करती है।

देश प्रधानमंत्री जी से भी इस संवाद में हिस्सा लेने की अपेक्षा करता है। pic.twitter.com/YMWWqzBRhE

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 11, 2024

“Congress welcomes this initiative and accepts the invitation for discussion. The country also expects the prime minister to take part in this dialogue,” he added. 

The former Congress chief said he was “100 per cent” prepared to take on PM Modi in a debate but claimed the Prime Minister would not agree. 

Amethi (Uttar Pradesh):

Hitting back at Priyanka Gandhi for claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not speak on pressing issues concerning the country, Union Minister Smriti Irani challenged the Gandhis to a debate and to specify any television channel, anchor, place, time and the issue to speak on, of their choice.

“I challenge them (Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi) to pick any channel, anchor, place, time and issue to debate with the BJP. Dono bhai-behen ek taraf aur BJP ka ek pravakta ek taraf, doodh ka doodh, paani ka paani ho jaayega (On one side, there will be the brother-sister duo and on the other side, there will be a spokesperson of the BJP; everything will be clear)…From our party, Sudhanshu Trivedi is enough. They will get an answer,” Ms Irani, who is contesting from Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi said speaking to ANI on Wednesday.

In Amethi, Smriti Irani defeated Rahul Gandhi by 55,000 votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections ending the Gandhi family’s stint on the seat.

Amethi and Rae Bareli — two constituencies considered old turfs of the Gandhi family has again become the point of focus as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has entered the fray in Rae Bareli and the family’s close aide Kishori Lal Sharma has been fielded against Smriti Irani in Amethi.

All India Congress Committee General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who has always been active in the above constituencies through back-room to front campaign, is camping in Rai Bareli from Monday and leading the poll front from strategy, management and campaign.

Sonia Gandhi contested the 2019 general elections from Rae Bareli and defeated Bharatiya Janata Party’s Dinesh Pratap Singh by a margin of over 1.6 lakh votes, however, her victory margin came down by 13 per cent as compared to 2014.

Congress had won just 2 seats in Uttar Pradesh in 2014 (Rae Bareli and Amethi). The tally came down to just one in 2019 after the party lost Amethi.

This time, Rahul Gandhi will be seeking to maintain the long-standing family legacy seat in the state, while Kishori Lal Sharma is up against the challenge of Smriti Irani.

Sonia Gandhi won Rae Bareli for four successive terms before she moved to Rajya Sabha this time.

The party, while aiming to register a strong comeback after two historic losses in 2014 and 2019 has a tough task in hand to wrest back Amethi and retain Rae Bareli. But, it is pertinent to note that in 2022 Assembly elections in the state, Congress couldn’t win any assembly seat under Rae Bareli, which shows the task, which means the task in hand, will be anything but easy.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Congress’s Rahul Gandhi has shifted to Uttar Pradesh’s Raebareli, leaving Amethi to family loyalist and party leader KL Sharma. But he was the opponent who is being targeted by the BJP’s Union minister Smriti Irani, the sitting MP of Amethi. Ms Irani, who wrested Amethi from Rahul Gandhi in 2019, is hoping for a second consecutive term.  

Speaking at a rally today, Ms Irani targeted Mr Gandhi over the recent comments in his support from a leader in Pakistan.

“Till now I used to contest against Congress candidate, but now a Pakistani leader has said Smriti Irani should be defeated,” Ms Irani said to loud cheers.

“I thought ‘You cannot handle Pakistan, you are worrying about Amethi?’… If my voice is reaching the Pakistani leader, I want to say that this is the Amethi where Prime Minister Modi has built a factory of AK 203 rifle, that rifle is used to kill Pakistani terrorists on the border,” she added.

Then came the attack on Mr Gandhi. “Today I want to ask, ‘What is this relationship of Pakistan with Rahul Gandhi called? Elections are going on in the country but you (Rahul Gandhi) are getting support abroad, and did not condemn it,” she added.

Last week, former Pakistan minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain had praised Rahul Gandhi in a post on social media. Mr Gandhi since has been targeted by the BJP on this issue. Most leaders, starting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had questioned his “Pakistan connection”.

Last week, PM Modi had alleged a “partnership” between the Congress and Pakistan, saying it now stands “fully exposed”.

“You must have come to know that a Pakistani leader is offering prayers for the Congress. Pakistan is impatient to make Shehzada (Rahul Gandhi) the Prime Minister… And we know that the Congress is a disciple of Pakistan,” he had said.  

Mr Gandhi, who has contested from Wayanad, was announced last week as the candidate or Raebareli, the constituency vacated by his mother Sonia Gandhi as she shifted to the Rajya Sabha.

Mr Gandhi was widely expected to attempt to win back Amethi, which sent him to the Lok Sabha thrice. His shift to Raebareli – described by many Congress leaders as a strategic move – had brought ridicule from the BJP. PM Modi had said that he should not run but stand and fight.

Lucknow:

Several vehicles parked near a Congress office in Amethi’s Gauriganj were vandalised last night, allegedly by BJP workers. The Congress has alleged that the attack was orchestrated by sitting MP and BJP candidate Smriti Irani. It has also accused “BJP goons” of attacking its workers. Police have said they have registered a case and probe is on. The BJP has denied the allegations. 

Late last night, the Congress shared on X a video that showed several cars with their windscreens shattered. “Smriti Irani and BJP workers are badly scared in Amethi. Foreseeing the defeat, BJP goons armed with sticks and rods reached outside the Congress office in Amethi and vandalised vehicles parked there. There has been a deadly attack on Congress workers and the people of Amethi. Many people are badly injured in this attack. During the incident, vehicles of local people were also damaged,” the post read.

The Congress alleged that police remained a mute spectator. “The police administration remained a mute spectator during the entire incident. This incident is proof that BJP is going to lose badly in Amethi,” it said.

BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi told IANS that the Congress is using dirty tricks in the election for Amethi Lok Sabha seat. He said the incident of vandalism was an attempt by the Congress to seek sympathy votes. “We appeal to the Election Commission to take strict action, investigate this thoroughly and make the names of those who vandalised cars public,” he said.

Some videos showed local residents telling police officers about the incident and questioning them how such an incident could take place while the model code of conduct is in force. Amethi votes tomorrow, in the third phase of Lok Sabha polls.

After months of speculation and suspense, the Congress last week announced long-time grassroots worker KL Sharma as its candidate in Amethi, which has been represented by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the past.

The BJP, which named Ms Irani as its candidate weeks back, haas accused Rahul Gandhi of fleeing the high-profile contest after suffering defeat against Ms Irani in the 2019 election. The Union Minister said the Congress’s selection of candidate shows they are losing Amethi. “The fact that the Gandhis are not fighting in Amethi shows that even before a vote has been cast, they are losing from Amethi. If they had seen even a glimmer of hope, they would have contested and not put up a proxy candidate,” she said.

Mr Sharma, who has earlier worked as an MP’s representative in Amethi, told reporters, “The people of Amethi are in my heart. I have been here for 40 years. I am following what has been directed to me by the top leadership. I just want people to give me a chance to serve them.”

New Delhi:

Exuding confidence after the Congress decided not to field Rahul Gandhi against her in Amethi, Union Minister Smriti Irani has said this is a sign of the Congress conceding the 79th out of Uttar Pradesh’s 80 Lok Sabha seats to the BJP and that her party managing a clean sweep in the state is a possibility. 

Speaking exclusively to NDTV on Friday, after it was revealed that Mr Gandhi, whom she had defeated in 2019, would not be contesting against her but would fight from Raebareli, Ms Irani said it was a matter of pride for her that “an ordinary BJP worker had sent the Gandhi family packing”. Raebareli was the only seat that the Congress had won in Uttar Pradesh in 2019.

Asked about how she saw the developments of the day, the Women And Child Development minister said, “I think the Congress nomination and the entire Gandhi family backing out from a battle in Amethi is significant because, as far as I am concerned, it is the proclamation of defeat of the Congress party from Amethi.”

On Kishori Lal Sharma, a Gandhi family loyalist who has worked in Amethi for 40 years, getting the ticket instead and the Congress claiming that it was giving a chance to a grassroots worker, Ms Irani said people who have seen enough politics would know when they are being “hoodwinked”.

“If there was an iota of chance of the Gandhi family winning, they would have fought the battle here in Amethi,” she claimed. 

To a question on whether she would have wanted Rahul Gandhi to contest, Ms Irani said she had already created history in 2019 when she defeated the sitting Congress president. 

“This is not the first time Mr Rahul Gandhi has run away from Amethi. He had run away in 2019 as well. The only difference is last time he sought comfort in Wayanad and this time he chose not to contest at all. So it is the second time Mr Gandhi shied away from a battle in Amethi,” she said. 

‘Have Done Much In Life’

Asked whether she would have like to challenge him in Amethi as well, she said, “I think you give him too much importance. I am a self-made woman. I have had a 2.5-decade successful career in media. I have been an MP. I have been announced as the World Economic Forum global leader in 2015 itself… I have done much in life. I don’t need a Rahul Gandhi chase to make my career or my name.”

“And by the way, I have done it without having a politician who is a father to me and the ‘karta dharta’ (prime mover) of an entire political organisation. So I have done it without comfort and at personal cost, Mr Gandhi, unfortunately, has not only let down his whole political organisation, but also his family legacy. I think it speaks volumes that an ordinary worker of the BJP could defeat the Gandhi scion. And, today, an ordinary worker of the BJP had the entire family packed away,” she added.

Moving to the Raebareli battle, where Mr Gandhi is up against Dinesh Pratap Singh, who had lost the seat in 2019, the minister said if the Congress leader was confident of winning from there, he would not have been contesting from Wayanad – where he is the sitting MP – as well. She said if the Gandhis were confident, former Congress President Sonia Gandhi would not have given up the constituency.

‘Death Knell’

On Robert Vadra saying he wanted to contest from Amethi, Ms Irani said, “I think if Sonia Gandhi doesn’t think her son-in-law is competent enough to be in Indian politics, that’s a decision for Mrs Gandhi to take. It’s nothing for me to ponder about.”

Insisting that the Congress will not be able to do well in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, she said, “I think the proclamation from Amethi itself is indicative that this is the last death knell in the political coffin of the Congress Party… The 79th (seat in Uttar Pradesh) was proclaimed by the Congress party itself that they are losing. The 80th is Raebareli. Mr Gandhi will surely lose from there. Else he would have never fought from Wayanad.”

Taking another dig at her former opponent, she added, “Do remember Mr Gandhi is not fighting this battle alone. He has taken the support of the Samajwadi Party. So what kind of a leader is this, who can’t fight his own battles alone?”

Not Worthy?

Ms Irani claimed that the Congress party has declared her victory in Amethi with its decision and when she was asked whether Mr Sharma is a worthy opponent, she said, “Was Rahul Gandhi worthy in 2019? He was an absentee MP. I’m a two-term MP who has never been absent. as compared to Mr Rahul Gandhi. My spend of MP local area development funds and my record in Parliament has been pretty decent.”

“So compared to somebody who is self-made and has been a productive MP, do you think an absentee MP who depended on a family name to become a politician is a worthy opponent for a person like me,” she asked. 

“I have been an MP only for five years as compared to 50 years of the Gandhi family. I’m grateful that people in these five years have decided that I make for a better public representative than the Gandhis who were here for 50 years, and especially Mr Rahul Gandhi was here as an absentee MP for 15 years. The comparison was stark, and that is why the Gandhi family withdrew from contesting from its so-called family bastion,” she said.

Called a giant slayer, Ms Irani said Rahul Gandhi is “hardly a giant” and continued, “The writing is on the wall. As far as Amethi goes, they have woken up and smelled the coffee. I’m sure they will be coming to many realities on the fourth of June. The citizen had fallen long ago. They have now woken up to that reality.”

Claiming that Mr Gandhi was not transparent with the voters of Wayanad in 2019 about fighting another seat, the BJP leader said the decision not to field a member of the Gandhi family from Amethi indicates that the Congress knows that it is not well positioned in Uttar Pradesh.

‘Ordinary Worker’

On whether she thought 80 on 80 is achievable in Uttar Pradesh she said, “Today is a great indicator of what is available in terms of political realities vis a vis the Congress Party. It is the Congress Party that has concluded that if any member of the Gandhi family fights Amethi, they will lose. It is not a conclusion by the BJP. That the Gandhi family felt it not it did not have even a fighting chance in Amethi speaks volumes.

“Because remember this they are the first family of Indian politics. And I’m just an ordinary BJP worker. That an ordinary BJP worker could send them packing away speaks volumes about what awaits them on the fourth of June,” she added.

Amethi, Uttar Pradesh:

Union minister Smriti Irani today said that the Gandhis’ absence from the electoral fray in Amethi indicates that the Congress has accepted defeat even before polling.

“Gandhi family not being present in the election fray in Amethi indicates that Congress party has accepted its defeat in Amethi even before the polling on the seat,” Ms Irani, the sitting MP from Amethi, told reporters.

She made the remarks responding to Congress loyalist KL Sharma filing his nomination from the seat.

“Had they felt there was any chance of victory on the seat, they would have contested from here and not fielded their proxy,” the BJP leader said, referring to the Gandhi family.

She asserted she will win the constituency again when it goes to polls on May 20.

Ms Irani took a swipe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who filed his nomination from Raebareli today, saying, “the one who was not accepted by Amethi and fled to Wayanad will never fully belong to Rae Bareli.”

“Also the question is: he, in Wayanad, said it is his family. Now what will he say in Raebareli today?” she asked.

Rahul Gandhi has been a three-time MP from Amethi.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, his streak was broken by Irani, who defeated him by a margin of more than 55,000 votes and was hailed as a “giant killer.”

Responding to a question, Ms Irani said now that people in Amethi have seen development under the Narendra Modi government, they are forced to wonder why it did not happen in the last 50 years.

“They are asking why the Gandhi family did so much damage to the area,” she said.

“The PM had already predicted that after polling in Wayanad, Rahulji will look for a new seat and you are seeing it happen today,” Irani said.

Rahul Gandhi is a sitting MP from Wayanad in Kerala and has contested the seat again this election.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)