Lok Sabha election 2024: 10 big faces in Phase 4

96 seats across nine states and one Union Territory will vote on May 13.

The fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections will see 96 seats across nine states and one Union Territory vote on May 13.

All 25 seats in Andhra Pradesh and 17 constituencies in Telangana will go to polls. Voting will also be held in 13 seats in Uttar Pradesh, 11 in Maharashtra, 8 in West Bengal, 8 in Madhya Pradesh, 5 in Bihar, 4 each in Jharkhand and Odisha as well as one seat in Jammu and Kashmir. According to the Election Commission, as many as 1,717 candidates are in the fray.

Here are the top 10 candidates to watch out for.

Akhilesh Yadav: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav will contest from Uttar Pradesh's Kannauj. The seat sent him to Parliament thrice and voted for his wife, Dimple Yadav, and Mulayam Singh Yadav, the late SP patriarch. This Lok Sabha seat was a Samajwadi Party bastion till BJP MP Subrata Pathak won from the seat in 2019. Yadav is up against Pathak this time.

Mahua Moitra: Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra, who was expelled from Lok Sabha in December 2023, is in the race to win the Krishnanagar constituency in West Bengal for a second time.  Up against her is BJP leader Amrita Roy, the Rajmata of the Krishnanagar royal family. For the INDIA bloc, SM Saadi of CPI (M) will be contesting the election.

Giriraj Singh: One of Bihar's pivotal Lok Sabha constituencies, Begusarai is a general seat not reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs). It is currently represented by Union Minister and BJP leader Giriraj Singh. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Singh defeated CPI leader Kanhaiya Kumar (now a Congress leader) by a substantial margin.  Before 2004, this seat was a stronghold of the Congress. The INDIA bloc has fielded Awadhesh Kumar Rai as their joint candidate against Singh.

Yusuf Pathan: Former India cricketer Yusuf Pathan, hailing from Baroda, is making his poll debut from West Bengal’s Baharampur as a Trinamool Congress candidate.  He will be taking on Congress veteran Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. This seat is dominated by minorities. Chowdhury has held this seat since 1999.

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury: Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, president of the West Bengal unit of Congress, is the party's leader in Lok Sabha. He won the Nabagram legislative assembly seat in 1996. He was then nominated to contest the Baharampur constituency in 1999, which he has been holding since then. He is up against Trinamool candidate Yusuf Pathan.

YS Sharmila: Andhra Pradesh Congress President Y S Sharmila, daughter of former Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, and sister of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, will contest from Kadapa Lok Sabha seat in Andhra Pradesh. Kadapa has been a YS family bastion since 1989. Sharmila will lock horns with her cousin and YSRC MP YS Avinash Reddy.

Asaduddin Owaisi: Hyderabad in Telangana has been an AIMIM stronghold with its chief Asaduddin Owaisi winning the seat for four terms since 2004. This time, Owaisi will lock horns with BJP candidate Madhavi Latha. Before 2014, Owaisi’s father Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi represented Hyderabad in the Lok Sabha for six terms.

Arjun Munda: The BJP had fielded its MP and Union Minister Arjun Munda from Khunti, reserved for scheduled tribe candidates, in Jharkhand. He will be contesting against Congress leader Kali Charan Munda. Arjun Munda had won this seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Shatrughan Sinha:  Trinamool candidate Shatrughan Sinha, also known as the “Bihari Babu” of the Indian film industry, will face BJP candidate Surinderjeet Singh Ahluwalia from West Bengal’s Asansol. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Babul Supriyo, a popular singer, who was then with the BJP won the seat.

Madhavi Latha: The BJP has nominated Madhavi Latha, chairperson of Virinchi Hospitals and a well-known activist championing the causes of women, children, and the poor, to contest from Hyderabad in Telangana. Latha, who is making her poll debut, is up against sitting AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi.

The counting will be held on June 4.