Showing today: Digvijaya Singh vs Sadhvi Pragya, Sheila Dikshit vs Manoj Tiwari, Akhilesh vs...

Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
Sadhvi Pragya (BJP) vs Digvijaya Singh (Congress)

Bhopal, the City of Lakes, is one of the most high profile seats this LS election. The face-off is between former MP chief minister and Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and BJP’s Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused in 2008 Malegaon blast case, currently out on bail. Bhopal is considered to be the ‘toughest seat’ in MP inside the Congress camp. The seat has been held by BJP since 1989. Late President Shankar Dayal Sharma was the last Congress winner here in 1984. In 2014, BJP’s Alok Sanjar won this seat by 7,14,178 margin.

North East Delhi, Delhi
Manoj Tiwari (BJP) vs Sheila Dikshit (Cong) vs Dilip Pandey (AAP)

North East Delhi constituency has emerged as the prestigious seat for both Congress and BJP, with the former pitting three-time Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit and the latter sitting MP and Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari. AAP’s Dilip Pandey is also in the fray. In 2014, Tiwari won the seat by 1,44,084 votes against AAP’s Prof. Anand Kumar. 

Guna, Madhya Pradesh 
Jyotiraditya Scindia (Congress) vs KP Yadav (BJP)

Jyotiraditya Scindia is in the fray again from his traditional Guna seat which he’s been winning since 2002, following his father’s death in a plane crash. Fighting him is former Congressman KP Yadav, who joined BJP after being denied ticket for Mungaoli Assembly bypoll. Busy as AICC general secretary in-charge for western UP, his wife Priyadarshini made up for his absence from his constituency.

Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh
Maneka Gandhi (BJP) vs Sanjay Sinh (Congress)

BJP has fielded Union minister Maneka Gandhi from Sultanpur, a seat won by her son Varun Gandhi in 2014. She is pitted against Sanjay Sinh of Congress, a close associate of her late husband Sanjay Gandhi. Turning this battle a triangular one is BSP’s Chandra Bhadra Singh ‘Sonu’. Once a stronghold of Congress, BJP won here first time in 1991 poll. 

Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh
Rita Bahuguna (BJP) vs Rajendra Patel (SP) vs Yogesh Shukla (Cong)

Allahabad, now rechristened Prayagraj, has seen several heavyweights contesting in the past. The seat was won by two late Prime Ministers – Lal Bahadur in 1957 and 1962, and VP Singh in 1980. Veteran BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi won here three consecutive times, in 1996, 1998 and 1999.
BJP’s Rita Bahuguna Joshi is pitched against SP’s Rajendra Singh Patel and Congress’ Yogesh Shukla. In 2014, the seat was won by BJP’s Shyama Charan Gupta by 62,009 votes. 

Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh
Akhilesh Yadav (SP) vs Dinesh Lal Yadav Nirahua (BJP)

At stake here is the prestige of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, who’s up against BJP’s Dinesh ‘Nirahua’ Lal Yadav, the Bhojpuri superstar. This is the first time Yadav is contesting here. In 2014, his father and SP patron Mulayam Singh had won the seat by 63,204 votes against then sitting MP Ramakant Yadav of BJP. Azamgarh was the only seat in UP that BJP lost in 2014. 

Sonipat, Haryana 
Bhupendra Singh Hooda (Cong) vs Ramesh Kaushik (BJP) vs Digvijay Singh Chautala (JJP)

This Jat-dominated seat is witnessing a triangular contest between Haryana ex-CM and Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda, sitting BJP MP Ramesh Kaushik and Jannayak Janta Party’s Digvijay Singh Chautala. INLD’s Surender Kumar Chhikara is also in the fray. In 2014, Kaushik defeated Congress’ Jagbir Singh Malik by 77,000 votes.

Hisar, Haryana 
Dushyant Chautala (JJP) vs Brijendra Singh (BJP) vs Bhavya Bishnoi (Congress)

The seat is witnessing a triangular contest between sitting MP Dushyant Chautala of JJP, Brijendra Singh of BJP and Congress’ Bhavya Bishnoi. While Chautala is using development done in past five years as poll plank, the other two are counting on their legacy. Singh’s father is Union Steel Minister Birender Singh while mother Prem Lata is BJP MLA from Uchana Kalan in Hisar. Bishnoi is the grandson of former Haryana chief minister Bhajan Lal. 
In 2014 Lok Sabha election, Dushyant (then INLD leader) defeated nearest rival Kuldeep Bishnoi, who was a joint candidate of the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC), by a margin of 51,000 votes.