New Delhi:
Seven states and two union territories will go to polls in the seventh phase of voting that takes place today. Sonia Gandhi and Rajnath Singh, presidents of the two largest political parties, Congress and BJP, are among those whose fate will be decided in this phase. Voting will also take place for the 117 assembly segments in Telangana.
Here are the top 10 contests in this phase of election
In Vadodara, Congress general secretary Madhusudan Mistry, considered to be close to party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, faces an uphill task in preventing Narendra Modi, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, from making his debut in the Lok Sabha. Mr Modi is also contesting from Varanasi, which goes to polls on May 12. (Also Read: Varanasi's Muslims and the Modi roadshow)
Janata Dal (United) president Sharad Yadav faces a tough contest in Yadav-dominated Madhepura, where he is being challenged by the controversial former MP, Rajesh Ranjan, better known as Pappu Yadav, who has been put up by the RJD, and the BJP's Vijay Kumar Singh.
Amritsar, the holy city, is witnessing another high-profile contest, with former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh being pitted against top BJP strategist, Arun Jaitley. (India Votes 2014: full coverage)
Filmstar-turned-politician Vinod Khanna, a three-term BJP MP, is aiming to wrest the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat back from Punjab Congress chief Pratap singh Bajwa. Khanna had lost by a wafer-thin margin in 2009 to his Congress rival.
The Badal family's prestige is at stake in Bhatinda. Harsimrat Kaur Badal,the sitting MP, is being challenged by Manpreet Singh Badal, the estranged cousin of her husband, Sukhbir Singh Badal, the deputy chief minister of Punjab. Manpreet heads the Punjab People's Party (PPP), but has entered the fray as a Congress candidate.
In Nizamabad, Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief K Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter K Kavitha is trying to unseat the two-term Congress MP Madhu Yashki Goud. The BJP has fielded its MLA from Nizamabad (Urban), Y Lakshminarayana, rendering the contest triangular. (India Votes 2014: schedule)
In Malkajgiri, the country's biggest constituency in terms of voter-strength, union minister and senior Congress leader Sarve Satyanarayana is locked in a difficult five-cornered contest with the TDP's C Malla Reddy, former Andhra Pradesh DGP Dinesh Reddy, who has been fielded by the YSR Congrsss, and AAP candidate N V Sudha Kiran, who is the grandson of former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao. The TRS has nominated M Hanumantha Rao.
BJP president Rajnath Singh is fighting to claim former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's legacy in Lucknow. He is being opposed by former Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi and actor-turned-politician Jaaved Jaaferi of the Aam Aadmi Party.
In Kanpur, former BJP president Murli Manohar Joshi, after being forced to make way for Narendra Modi in Varanasi, is waging to tough battle to prevent union minister Sriprakash Jaiswal from winning for the fourth consecutive term.
In West Bengal's Srerampore, popular music director Bappi Lahiri, contesting his first-ever election as a BJP candidate, is challenging sitting Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee.
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