2024 Elections Phase 3: Can BJP Repeat its 90% Sweep or Will 'INDIA' Push Back?

NDA had won 81 out of 93 seats voting in phase three. It won't be easy for the party to repeat this feat.

The third phase of polling for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections takes place on 7 May, with voters in 93 constituencies across 12 states and Union Territories all set to cast their votes.

From the Prajwal Revanna sex abuse scandal to the BJP's walkover win in Surat, a lot has happened in the run-up to this phase of polling.

The main question in this phase is whether the BJP will be able to repeat its domination of these 93 seats or can the Opposition inflict some losses on the BJP.

The figure to note here is that out of the 93 seats voting on 6 May, the BJP and its allies had won 81 in 2019, that is a little less than 90 percent.

So which are the states and Union Territories voting in this phase?

Who are the important candidates?

And what's at stake in this phase?

Let's go state-wise and try and answer these questions.

Gujarat

The biggest cluster of seats voting in the third phase are in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat. Gujarat has given Modi all 26 seats in both 2014 and 2019.

The BJP has won a walkover victory in Surat, with the Congress candidates nomination being rejected due to errors in the documents submitted and all the other candidate withdrawing their candidature. There are allegations that the Congress candidate was in cahoots with the BJP and that some of the other candidates were approached by the BJP before their withdrawal.

What is clear, is the BJP's desire to increase their complete domination of Gujarat's electoral landscape.

In the fray here are BJP heavyweights like Home Minister Amit Shah from Gandhinagar, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya from Porbandar and Gujarat BJP chief CR Patil from Navsari.

An interesting contest is taking place in Rajkot between Union Fisheries Minister Parshottam Rupala and former Leader of the Opposition in Gujarat, Paresh Dhanani of the Congress.

Rupala was in the eye of the storm for his controversial remarks that sparked protests by the Rajput community across North India.

The big question in Gujarat is - can the BJP repeat its 26-0 sweep from 2014 and 2019?

Standing in its way is the alliance between the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party. This is the first electoral test for the two parties, that have come together for the first time in a pre-poll arrangement.

Though the BJP remains dominant, some of the INDIA bloc candidates are said to be giving the ruling party a run for its money - such as Geniben Thakor in Banaskantha, Tushar Chaudhary in Sabarkantha, Amit Chavda in Anand, Anant Patel in Valsad and Chaitar Vasava in Bharuch.

Even a loss of one or two seats will make the BJP's path to repeating 2019 all the more difficult.

Karnataka

The BJP had won all the 14 seats of Northern and Central Karnataka voting in phase 3. The southern part of the state, including Bengaluru city and the Old Mysore region, have already completed voting in the second phase.

Between the second phase and the third, a major event happened - the Prajwal Revanna sex abuse scandal erupted. More on that in this story by The Quint.

Now, Prajwal Revanna is a JD-S candidate from Hassan which voted in the second phase of polling, the JD-S is BJP's pre-poll ally and PM Modi even campaigned for Prajwal.

Though the JD-S has suspended him, the stain won't leave the party as he happens to be party patriarch HD Deve Gowda's grandson. Also Prajwal's father and Deve Gowda's son HD Revanna has also been arrested. He is accused of allegedly kidnapping one of Prajwal's alleged victims.

Will this harm the BJP?

The Opposition Congress has been raising the issue tooth and nail in Karnataka.

It seems highly unlikely that the BJP will be able to win all 14 seats in Karnataka voting in phase 3.

Some of the key candidates in this phase are former CMs Basavaraj Bommai from Haveri and Jagadish Shettar from Belgaum and Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi from Dharwad. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's son-in-law Radhakrishna is contesting from Gulbarga.

Shimoga, the bastion of former CM BS Yediyurappa, is witnessing an interesting contest between his son BY Raghavendra and Congress' Geeta Shivarajkumar, the daughter of former CM Bangarappa and wife of superstar Shiva Rajkumar. Making matters difficult for Raghavendra is former BJP deputy CM KS Eshwarappa, contesting as an Independent candidate.

Raghavendra and Geeta Shivarajkumar aren't the only political scions in the fray in this phase. Other candidates such as Priyanka Jarkiholi in Chikkodi, Mrinal Hebbalkar in Belgaum and Sagar Khandre in Bidar are all children of serving ministers in the Karnataka government.

The Congress has also fielded Prabha Mallikarjun, wife of minister SS Malikarjun from Davangere and Anjali Nimbalkar, wife of senior cop Hemant Nimbalkar in Uttara Kannada.

Maharashtra

Eleven out of 48 seats in Maharashtra will be voting in phase 3. The most important battle is being fought in the Pawar family bastion Baramati where sitting MP Supriya Sule is taking on Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar. The outcome will be seen as the Baramati voters' verdict on which is the real NCP after the split.

Watch The Quint's ground report on the Pawar vs Pawar clash and on the ground water situation in the area. Also do have a look at The Quint's interview with Rohit Pawar that directly addresses the family feud.

Another interesting contest is underway in Raigad where two traditional rivals are fighting from opposing sides. Sitting NCP MP Sunil Tatkare is now the NDA candidate from the seat and he takes on former Shiv Sena MP Anant Geeta who is contesting on the ticket of the Shiv Sena (UBT), an INDIA bloc constituent.

In Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, former CM Narayan Rane of the BJP takes on Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Vinayak Raut, who has won the seat twice.

Another important seat that votes in this phase is Solapur where Praniti Shinde, daughter of former CM Sushil Kumar Shinde is in the fray on a Congress ticket. She takes on BJP youth leader Ram Satpute.

The NDA had won 9 out of 11 seats in 2019. The INDIA bloc will be hoping to make some gains.

Uttar Pradesh

Ten out of 80 seats in UP vote in phase three. These are mostly in the central part of UP.

The BJP had won eight out of these in 2019, the only exceptions being Sambhal and Mainpuri.

The SP's prospects in this phase are greatly dependent on members of the Yadav family. In the fray are Dimple Yadav in Mainpuri, Aditya Yadav, son of Shivpal Yadav, in Badaun and Akshay Yadav, son of Ram Gopal Yadav, in Firozabad.

Madhya Pradesh

Nine out of 29 seats in MP will be voting in phase three. The areas voting in this phase are mainly in the Chambal region and in an around Bhopal.

Two former CMs are in the fray: BJP's Shivraj Singh Chouhan from Vidisha and Congress' Digvijaya Singh from Rajgarh. Also in the fray in this phase is Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia from Guna.

Read more on the seats going to vote in Madhya Pradesh in phase three in our in-depth story.

Chhattisgarh

Seven out of Chhattisgarh's 11 seats will be voting in the third phase of polling. The remaining four seats in the state have already voted in the first two phases.

Some of the key battles in this phase are:

• Korba: BJP's Saroj Pandey vs Congress' Jyotsna Mahant

• Raipur: BJP's Brijmohan Aggarwal vs Congress' Vikas Upadhyay

The BJP had won six out of seven seats in 2019.

Bihar

Five seats are going to vote in phase three. The NDA had won all five in 2019. The INDIA bloc is hoping to chip away at the NDA's tally.

The seats voting in this phase are Jhanjharpur, Supaul, Araria, Madhepura and Khagaria. Most of these seats are in the Kosi region in Northeastern Bihar.

Assam

The BJP had won just one seat out of the four seats voting in phase 3 - Gauhati.

However, after delimitation, Barpeta has also become more favourable to the BJP as it has gone from being a Muslim majority seat to a Hindu majority one.

The BJP is also hoping to win Kokrajhar along with its ally UPPL.

An important contest in this phase is in Dhubri where AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal is trying to defend his turf against senior Congress leader Rakibul Hussain.

West Bengal

The TMC had won two out of the four seats voting in phase three, the Congress and BJP had won one each. The seats voting in this phase have a sizable Muslim population.

The Malda South seat is seeing an intense contest between Congress' Isha Khan Chowdhury, BJP's Sreerupa Mitra Chaudhury and TMC's Shahnawaz Ali Raihan.

Read The Quint's ground report from Malda to know more.

Goa

Like Gujarat, the Congress and AAP are contesting in alliance in Goa. The AAP and Goa Forward Party are giving unconditional support to the Congress in the two seats of Goa.

In South Goa, the Congress has replaced sitting MP Francesco Sardinha with Captain Viriato Fernandes. The BJP has fielded Pallavi Dempo, wife of businessman Shriniwas Dempo. She is said to be the richest candidate in the fray in phase three with assets amounting to over Rs 1300 crore.

In North Goa, former Union Minister Ramakant Khalap takes on BJP's Shripad Naik in the latter's bastion.

While BJP has consistently been winning North Goa, it won South Goa on twice in the last three decades or so.

The party hopes to wrest the seat away from the Congress this time.

Union Territories

Two Union Territories from Western India will be voting in this phase - Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

Both are witnessing a direct contest between the BJP and Congress.

Last time the Dadra and Nagar Haveli seat was won by Shiv Sena's Mohan Delkar. He died by suicide in 2021 and just before his death he had posted a video blaming the local administration for thwarting his work. The then MVA government in Maharashtra had blamed the BJP for his death.

His wife Kalaben Delkar won the seat on a Sena ticket in 2021. She is now contesting as a BJP candidate.