58 Lok Sabha seats of Phase-6: In 2019 General Election, Congress drew a zero in these constituencies

Vibha Sharma

Chandigarh, May 25

May 25, Saturday, may mark an interesting turning point in the ongoing seven-phase Lok Sabha Elections in the country if Congress manages to better its 2019 performance. Notably, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress had almost drawn a zero on the 58 seats polling on Saturday.

The big question, therefore, could be that will the grand old party achieve some breakthroughs, some reversal of fortunes in some constituencies, especially in Haryana, which is being watched carefully for this very aspect.

58 seats

Phase-6 constituencies polling on Saturday include Bihar (eight), Jammu and Kashmir (one), Jharkhand (four), Odisha (six), Uttar Pradesh (14) and West Bengal (eight). In 2019, the majority of these constituencies fell in the lap of the BJP-led NDA and regional satraps like Biju Janata Dal (Odisha) and Trinamool Congress (West Bengal).

For example, in UP, the BJP won the majority of 14 seats polling today, including key constituencies Sultanpur, Allahabad, Shrawasti, Domariyaganj Azamgarh and Bhadohi.

As far as the northern plains are concerned, in 2019 BJP swept through the 17 seats (10 in Haryana and seven in Delhi), completely demolishing opposition resistance and also losing bastions like Rohtak.

This time, however, INDIA alliance parties are said to be in a “better position” in some of these 17 constituencies, as per ground reports

Claims, counter claims

The BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi claim that the opposition INDIA bloc “would not win a single seat in UP”.  In Bihar, saffron leaders claim a “complete sweep” by the BJP-led NDA on all the 40 Lok Sabha seats there.

The BJP-led NDA comprising JD (U) and Lok Janshakti Party won 39 of the 40 seats in Bihar in 2019 while RLD-Congress Mahagathbandhan could win just one seat. In Jharkhand also BJP and NDA allies won 12 of the 14 seats there.

Turnaround?

Mocking BJP’s slogan of ‘400 paar’, INDIA block members are sensing a “turnaround” in 2024, at the same time observers also point to Congress’s “lack of strongholds” in Phase-6 as compared to other stakeholders BJP, BJD and TMC.

“There are seats in Jharkhand which the BJP has been consistently winning like Dhanbad and Jamshedpur. Likewise, in Odisha the BJD dominance is evident and it is BJP which is expected to gain due to lack of alliance with the ruling party. It is a tactical move in Odisha as by coming together they may also have ended up ceding valuable opposition space to Congress,” they add.