NEW DELHI: Analysts see Monday’s fifth phase of the Indian elections as an uphill battle for the BJP, with Rahul Gandhi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s seats secured.
49 seats in eight states—Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Ladakh, and controlled Jammu & Kashmir—were decided upon in the fifth round of voting in the seven-phase polls.
Political analyst Yogendra Yadav says that the latest phase is a big deal not just because it involves some of the most prestigious elections but also because there is a chance that the BJP would lose badly in a couple of the eight states that had voting.
Politically significant and famous constituencies in this phase include Saran (formerly Chhapra) and Hajipur in Bihar; Rae Bareli, Amethi, and Faizabad (Ayodhya) in Uttar Pradesh; and all six seats in Mumbai, the nation’s financial hub.
The Modi alliance is expected to lose ground in this round as well, similar to Phase 3, because it won 39 of the 49 seats in the previous round, with the BJP winning 32 of those seats.
