Lok Sabha elections: Big bouts of Phase 5 | India News – Times of India

Mumbai North
2019 Winner: BJP (Poonam Mahajan)
Key contenders: Ujjwal Nikam (BJP), Varsha Gaikwad (Cong)
The special public prosecutor for 26/11 trial, Ujjwal Nikam, has been nominated by BJP in place of sitting MP Poonam Mahajan. Nikam, who formally joined the saffron party in April, faces a tough battle in this constituency. His rival is four-time Congress MLA and the party’s Mumbai chief Varsha Gaikwad, a legislator from neighbouring Dharavi assembly seat.North Central, which stretches from Bandra to Santacruz and Kurla, has a cosmopolitan mix that includes Maharashtrians, North Indians, East Indian Christians, Muslims and Parsis. There was a demand within the local Congress to field a minority candidate, but that wasn’t met. Gaikwad has the advantage of experience in election campaigning as well as the support of Shiv Sena (UBT) whose leader Uddhav Thackeray has his residence here. Nikam, the man who prosecuted Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab, also has BJP’s ground network backing him.
Nashik
2019 Winner: Shiv Sena (Hemant Godse)
Key contenders: Hemant Godse (Shiv Sena), Rajabhau Waje (Shiv Sena UBT), Shantigiri Maharaj (Ind)
Hemant Godse, who has been winning from Nashik from 2014, is now locked in battle with his former party colleague and UBT Sena nominee Rajabhau Waje, former Sinnar MLA. Getting a nomination for this prestigious seat wasn’t smooth sailing for Godse, who had to fend off Mahayuti partners, BJP and NCP, which were both keen to contest from here. A prominent face in the ring was NCP minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who claimed that BJP’s central leadership had proposed his name. Godse now has to ensure that parties in the governing coalition act in cohesion. He will also hope that people in the onion growers’ belt respond positively to the Centre’s recent withdrawal of export ban. Waje will rely on Sena supporters backing Thackeray and discontent among farmers. Complicating matters for both is Shantigiri Maharaj, a seer who has a sizeable following in Nashik.
Thane
2019 Winner: Shiv Sena (Rajan Vichare)
Key contenders: Naresh Mhaske (Shiv Sena), Rajan Vichare (Shiv Sena UBT)
Mahayuti announced its candidate for this seat, which covers Thane city and parts of Navi Mumbai, late as Sena and BJP were both eyeing it. Angered after Sena was handed the nomination, Navi Mumbai strongman Ganesh Naik’s supporters followed up with a spate of resignations. Though the rift was resolved in days, it’s yet to be seen if there’s any long-term impact of the tussle. The coalition’s eventual pick, Naresh Mhaske, had to make up for lost time while Sena UBT’s Rajan Vichare had a headstart as the constituency’s sitting MP. What may still work from Mhaske – the former mayor of Thane – is that he’s fighting from CM Eknath Shinde’s home turf. In this direct Sena vs Sena fight, a win is a must for both parties who want to establish their claim that they are the real Shiv Sena.
Hooghly
2019 Winner: BJP (Locket Chatterjee)
Key contenders: Locket Chatterjee (BJP), Rachana Banerjee (TMC), Manadip Ghosh (CPI-M)
Two Tollywood faces square off here, among the handful in these Lok Sabha elections in which both contestants are women. In Trinamool colours is actor Rachna Banerjee while BJP has once again fielded incumbent Locket Chatterjee in a constituency that witnessed the rise of Mamata Banerjee as a force against three decades of CPM rule with the Singur agitation against Tata’s Nano factory. After BJP’s 2019 Lok Sabha win, Trinamool Congress clawed its way back in the 2021 state assembly polls and the 2023 panchayat polls, largely negating gains made by BJP. Though a debutante, Rachna is a household name in the state, courtesy her hugely successful TV show, ‘Didi No. 1’ and Trinamool has thrown its might behind her to wrest the constituency back.
Saran
2019 Winner: BJP (Rajiv Pratap Rudy)
Key contenders: Rohini Acharya Yadav (RJD), Rajiv Pratap Rudy (BJP)
Famous as the birthplace of socialist leader Jayprakash Narayan, this constituency has been with BJP for the past decade. This time, though, the contest may not be a cakewalk for BJP’s Rajiv Pratap Rudy, former Union MoS for skill development. He is up against Lalu Yadav’s daughter Rohini Acharya, who first came into spotlight after donating her kidney to the RJD patriarch in Dec 2022. Lalu, who was elected from Chhapra (later Saran) in 1977 on a Janata Party ticket as the youngest parliamentarian at 29, represented this seat four times. After being disqualified from contesting elections following his conviction in the fodder scam, he fielded his wife Rabri Devi in 2014 and his samdhi Chandrika Rai in 2019, but both lost. Four assembly segments of the seat are currently represented by RJD and two by BJP.
Bongaon
2019 Winner: BJP (Shantanu Das)
Key contenders: Shantanu Thakur (BJP), Biswajit Das (TMC)
In this Matua heartland, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) promise set the agenda in 2019 LS polls, handing BJP a win. Two years later, in the 2021 assembly poll that TMC swept, Bongaon remained firmly with BJP, handing the party wins in six of the seven assembly segments. Five years on, CAA remains at the core of the campaign here. The difference – it was a promise in 2019 and is a reality now. And yet, there is anxiety about the test that every applicant must pass. TMC has pitted a BJP turncoat MLA, Biswajit Das against the incumbent Shantanu Thakur, junior Union minister and descendant of Matua guru Harichand Thakur. TMC, earlier his year, nominated Shantanu’s aunt Mamata Bala Thakur as a Rajya Sabha MP.
Faizabad
2019 Winner: BJP (Lallu Singh)
Key contenders: Lallu Singh (BJP), Awadhesh Prasad (SP), Sachidanand Pandey (BSP)
In this constituency that includes Ayodhya, two-time BJP MP Lallu Singh is banking on the euphoria of Ram temple along with govt’s ‘vikas’ theme, to score a hat-trick. A Thakur and an accused in the Babri demolition case, Singh was a five-time MLA from Ayodhya assembly seat between 1991 and 2007. He is pitted against Awadhesh Prasad of SP and Sachidanand Pandey of BSP. A Dalit and former minister in SP govt, Prasad is a nine-time MLA from erstwhile Sohawal and now Milkipur. SP has experimented by fielding a Dalit to cash in on the substantial presence of SC voters here. The entry of former IPS officer Arvind Sen, son of threetime Faizabad MP Mitrasen Yadav, as CPI candidate has made this contest interesting. Mitrasen had won the seat in 1989 for CPI, in 1998 (for SP) and 2004 (BSP).
Kaiserganj
2019 Winner: BJP (Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh)
Key contenders: Karan Bhushan Singh (BJP), Ram Bhagat Mishra (SP), Narendra Pandey (BSP)
Carved out of five assembly seats of Bahraich and Gonda, this constituency was in the news till the last day of nomination due to its association with six-time MP and former wrestling federation president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who was accused of sexual harassment by several women wrestlers. After days of suspense, BJP decided to go with his younger son Karan. Singh’s elder son Prateek is already an MLA from Gonda. Singh, who won thrice from Kaiserganj (2009, 2014 and 2019), and from Gonda (1991, 1999) and Balrampur (2004), wields considerable influence. A law graduate, Karan is a national-level double trap shooter and was named president of UP Wrestling Association. He takes on SP candidate, lawyer Ram Bhagat Mishra, and BSP’s Narendra Pandey, who hopes to cash in on the presence of Brahmin voters here.