Rahul Gandhi, Ramvilas Paswan and Rabri Devi to contest among heavyweights in 8th poll phase

Narendra Modi’s reiteration of “mother-son” jibe at the recent rally held at Amethi will be put to test on Wednesday, May 7, when India goes to polls for the second last time this general election. 

This election phase is about heavyweights and the play out yet again of the Goliath versus David battle as Congress Vice-President, Rahul Gandhi takes on in Amethi television star turned politician Smriti Irani of BJP. The battle has got more challenging with Modi bringing in the emotional pitch calling the TV star his “little sister” he has requisitioned for Amethi at a massive rally there. 

The eighth phase covers 64 Lok Sabha covering seven states including Andhra Pradesh (25), Bihar (7), Himachal Pradesh (4), Jammu and Kashmir (2), Uttar Pradesh (15), Uttarakhand (5) and West Bengal (6). 

Given the relatively high voter turnout across various poll phases, an appeal has been made through social media platform to not only sustain the trend but also grow it. The social media is being actively used to promote voter turnout. 

Around 45 per cent of both BJP and AAP’s candidates have social media accounts. But Congress candidates lag behind with only 19 per cent candidates are using the interactive platform for the continuation of campaign trail. 

In Uttar Pradesh, Sultanpur, will garner focus as Varun Gandhi’s mettle will be at test and also the hate speech maker, Beni Prasad Verma’s fate will be decided, as he takes the field from Gonda. In Andhra Pradesh, Congress held the reigns in 2004 and also in 2009, but with the recent order of division of the state, the TDP in alliance with BJP will give a tough fight. 

In Bihar, the fifth phase of polling tomorrow, will take place where LJP President, Ram Vilas Paswan contests from Hajipur and Rabri Devi from Saran. 

There are many celebrities across party lines contesting this phase as well. Cricket player Mohammad Kaif will try his luck in politics for the first time in Phulpur. In West Bengal, TMC’s Sandhya Roy from Mednipur and Moon Moon Sen from Bankura are in the fray. Even celebrated singer, Babul Supriyo (BJP) is in the fray from Asansol.
The trend to field candidates with criminal background persists this phase as well. BJP tops the chart with 20 per cent of candidates under this category while Congress has fielded 12 per cent such candidates in this phase. The number for AAP is 10%. 

In the second last phase of elections, women candidates are preparing to hold the reign. AAP has fielded 25 per cent of women candidates. BJP and Congress have fielded 12 and 18 per cent women candidates respectively. AAP satiates the young voters by fielding maximum (68 per cent) young candidates. For BJP the number is 45 per cent and for Congress 31 per cent respectively.