 "This is how the odds stack up for key players as 11 states go to polls today")
The big leagues as far as polling goes, starts today.
Voting has begun for 91 seats across 11 states and three union territories, including all seats in Delhi, Haryana and Kerala and several in UP, Bihar, Odisha and Maharashtra.
Voting for the lone seat of Chandigarh will also take place today. The ‘Modi wave’ will be tested to its limit today, given the heavy BJP campaigning in all the poll-bound states.
Here is a quick look at the scenario in these constituencies:
In Delhi, the Congress which won all seven Lok Sabha seats in 2009, is facing the prospect of a rout at the hands of the BJP and AAP.
In Chandigarh, incumbent MP Pawan Kumar Bansal is up against actors turned politicians Kirron Kher (BJP) and Gul Panag (AAP). What should have been an easy task for him could, however, be impacted heavily by the railgate scandal which he has been associated with.
In Bihar, the big question is whether incumbent Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s gamble to break his party’s 17-year-old alliance with the BJP. The pre-poll surveys suggest that it has not, and predict a definitive win for the BJP.
In Uttar Pradesh, where the Amit Shah-led BJP has centred much of its pre-poll campaigning, the party is expected to perform very well. However, regional parties like the Samajwadi Party (whose Azam Khan has been taking on Amit Shah) and Mayawati’s Bahujan Samajwadi Party cannot be ruled out.
In Kerala, the Congress-led UDF is expected to retain its hold in the state despite the anti-incumbency against the UPA government. The Lokniti-IBN survey predicted that the alliance should win most of the parliamentary seats in the state.
Parts of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra will also go to the polls today. In Odisha, Naveen Patnaik’s BJD is expected to retain a majority, while in Maharashtra, the BJP-Shiv Sena combine is expected to win.
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