Hindi heartland challenge for BJP

New Delhi: It will be a crucial fight for the BJP on 13 seats in the agrarian crisis-hit Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh which are going to polls on Monday along with 59  constituencies in eight other states in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections.

The BJP is strongly banking on the interview of Prime Minister Narendra Modi by actor Akshay Kumar to create a favourable image for him and the party in the Hindi heartland.

In an “apolitical” interview to Akshay Kumar on April 24, Mr Modi had talked about his life and struggles and how close he was to US President Barack Obama.

In Uttar Pradesh, the fourth phase will include most of the seats in Bundelkhand region that are highly dominated by agrarian issues.

In this region, the BJP is facing a strong challenge from the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the  Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) combine this time. Kanpur and Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh are also going to polls in the fourth phase.

Overall, the stakes are also high for the ruling BJP and its allies in the entire fourth phase as it had swept 56 of these seats in 2014, leaving just two for the Congress and the rest for other opposition parties such as the Trinamool Congress and the Biju Janata Dal.

The campaigning for the fourth phase ended on Saturday. The other States where polling would take place are Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir.

Five constituencies in Bihar, three in Jharkhand, six each in Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, eight in West Bengal, 17 in Maharashtra and 13 each in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh will go to polls.

In Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, it is a bipolar contest between Congress and the BJP, while in other states more regional parties are in fray.

Among the prominent names whose electoral fate would be decided are Union minister Giriraj Singh, former JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar, former Union minister Milind Murli Deora and parliamentarian Dimple Yadav, who is wife of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav. Sons of Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath — Vaibhav Gehlot and Nakul Nath — are also contesting in the fourth phase.

Other important contestants include Trinamul Congress’ Moon Moon Sen, Congress leader Salman Khurshid, Union minister Babul Supriyo, former MP Priya Dutt and Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) chief and former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha.

The fourth phase has fewer seats going to the polls than the previous phases. Over three phases, 302 of the 543 constituencies have already voted. The counting of votes will take place on May 23.