BJP dominates battle of narratives as 88 seats vote in phase 2 of Lok Sabha polls

The second round of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections takes place on April 26

In the second phase of polling today, as voters in 88 Lok Sabha seats spread across 13 states vote, the question of which issue seems to be dominating the 2024 Lok Sabha elections seems to be redundant. During the last few months, we have seen how issues have been shifting week by week or at times even day by day, from Ram Mandir to corruption to dynasty and whatnot, the latest addition being the issue of redistribution of wealth. It is known to everyone how BJP has tried to make the issue of redistribution of wealth as promised by the Congress an issue giving it a twist on how Congress plans to take the hard-earned wealth of the people and their forefathers and distribute it amongst the Muslims.

Elections to my mind are largely about narratives, and in the battle of narrative, BJP seems to giving the Congress difficult times. Voters rarely do fact-checking, what is correct and what is incorrect but largely go by the narrative. Right or wrong, all this is being done by political parties to maximize political gains.

While all political parties would be aiming to win as many seats as they can, stakes for the Congress are going to be very high in the second phase. It would be defending 20 of the total 52 Lok Sabha seats which it had won during the 2019 elections. Voting is taking place in all the 20 Lok Sabha seats of Kerala of which Congress had won 15 last time, including Wayanad where Rahul Gandhi got elected as an MP. It may be interesting to keep an eye on the Wayanad seat today as Rahul Gandhi is up against the CPI candidate Annie Raja, wife of CPI leader D Raja. Other constituencies might also witness interesting contests. Thiruvananthapuram is one such seat where Congress leader Shashi Tharoor is up against the BJP candidate Rajeev Chandrashekhar, a minister in the present Narendra Modi government. LDF has fielded Pannayan Ravindran of CPI from this constituency. He had been the MP of Thiruvananthapuram from 2005 to 2009, before the consecutive wins of Shashi Tharoor.  There are few other constituencies where BJP is trying hard to make an impact, but the interest in Kerala largely is about, if BJP will be able to open its account or not even in 2024 after having put in a lot of effort. Every seat for Congress is important if it aims to challenge the BJP in these elections, so it is important for the party not only to retain the lone seats won by the party in Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka which go to polls in the second phase, but also to try and win a few more seats to take its tally closer to a three-digit mark. The question remains, will Congress be able to challenge the BJP in the second round of election especially in the wake of PM Modi's relentless attacks over wealth redistribution?

In the second phase of voting, the BJP is defending its 52 Lok Sabha seats won during the 2019 Lok Sabha election. All the 13 seats which go to poll today in Rajasthan have been won by the BJP. With this, voting will be completed in Rajasthan. The BJP would also be defending its 11 victories in Karnataka where the first phase of voting will take place for 14 Lok Sabha seats. Voters of 8 Lok Sabha seats of UP would be casting their vote today all of which have been held by the BJP. The BJP needs to hold on to these seats if it aims to improve upon or at least repeat its performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Though only three seats of West Bengal go to polls on April 26, all three are held by the BJP. Thus, it's fighting a prestigious battle in Raiganj, Darjeeling and Balurghat. In the state of MP, which has a four-phase election, polling will be held for seven Lok Sabha seats, all of which are held by the BJP. Let’s not forget, BJP would also be defending its four Lok Sabha seats in Assam and is likely to face a challenge from the Maharashtra Vikas Agadi in Maharashtra.

Some constituencies which may witness interesting contests in the second phase of voting are Purnia in Bihar where JD(U) sitting MP Santosh Kushwaha, RJD’s Ms Bima Bharati and Independent Pappu Yadav are the main candidates. These seats are interesting to watch especially since Pappu Yadav, who was earlier in Congress, decided to contest as an Independent after being denied ticket as the INDIA bloc candidate.

The Katihar Lok Sabha seat in Bihar is also very important as former central minister Tarique Anwar is the candidate of Congress supported by RJD who faces the challenge from JD(U)’s Dulal Chand Goswami. In Chhattisgarh’s Rajnadgaon seat, former chief minister and Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel is the Congress candidate who is contesting the Lok Sabha seat for the first time. He faces sitting BJP MP Santosh Pandey, who is a hardcore Hindutva face of BJP in this region. In Karnataka, it is important to keep an eye on the Mandya Lok Sabha seat where former state chief minister and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy is contesting as the NDA nominee. In Jodhpur Lok Sabha seat in Rajasthan, Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat is being challenged by Congress’s Karan Singh. The Kota Lok Sabha seat in Rajasthan is witnessing a contest between Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla against a former BJP leader Prahlad Gunjan who is contesting on a Congress party ticket. In Jalore Lok Sabha seat in Rajasthan, Vaibhav Gehlot, the son of former chief minister Ashok Gehlot, it the Congress candidate. He is facing a challenge from Lumbaram Choudhary of BJP. The Akola Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra is also considered a very important seat as Prakash Ambedkar is contesting here, who is a former MP and the grandson of Dr B R Ambedkar. Important seats to keep an eye on in UP are Mathura from where Hema Malini is contesting on a BJP ticket for the third time and Meerut where BJP has fielded Arun Govil, who played the role of Lord Ram in the famous TV serial Ramayan.