LS Polls and The Big Fights

Amethi (Uttar Pradesh): The bastion of the Nehru-Gandhi family and considered a safe seat for India's first family, Amethi will have all eyes focused on it this time. Kumar Vishwas of the AAP has promised he will defeat sitting MP and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi "by a big margin" .

The constituency, where Rahul's uncle Sanjay Gandhi first entered the electoral battle in the 70s and later his father Rajiv Gandhi and his mother Sonia too fought and won, has been carefully nurtured by the Gandhi family. Rahul inaugurated 10 State Bank of India branches recently in the constituency. Vishwas claims he has been walking the length and breadth of the constituency and villagers complained to him that no development work has been done by the Congress. Poll: April 7.

Shimoga (Karnataka): B.S. Yeddyurappa, the first BJP chief minister of southern India, who left the party in 2012 in the wake of corruption charges and returned in January this year, is a Lingayat strongman and has a major presence in this constituency. The seat is represented by his son B.Y. Raghavendra, a first-time MP, while the former chief minister represents Shikaripur in the state assembly. The Congress has fielded Manjunath Bhandari, a businessman and member of the AICC who is a fresher in electoral politics. The other major contender is Geetha Shivakumar, the daughter of late chief minister S. Bangarappa and wife of leading Kannada filmstar Shivarajkmar, from the Janata Dal- Secular. She is also a fresher in politics. Poll: April 17.

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