From national security to citizenship bill: Lingering issues in first phase of Lok Sabha elections

The Lok Sabha polls will be held in seven-phases for 543 seats on April 11, April 18, April 23, April 29, May 6, May 12 and May 19, and counting will be on May 23.

The Lok Sabha polls are being conducted in seven phases between April 11 and May 19. The election results will be declared on May 23. / Representational Picture (AFP)

New Delhi: As the world's largest democratic exercise begins on Aprill 11, we look at the key issues concerning the 91 Lok Sabha constituencies spread across 18 states and two Union Territories. Uttar Pradesh

• Two seats out of eight seats in the first phase – Noida and Ghaziabad are near Delhi.
• BJP is getting tough fight from SP-BSP and RLD in eight seats of Western UP this time.
• Congress party is also in fray.
• Uttar Pradesh is key to BJP's plan to return to power as the state has 80 Lok Sabha constituencies.
• Why UP is important for the BJP: The BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had won 73 out of total 80 Lok Sabha seats in the 2014 general elections. It also formed government in the state in 2017 assembly elections.

Issues: Sugarcane payments are a bigger problem in the western UP. Bihar Main fight: Bihar is set to see a contest between the BJP-JD(U)-LJP alliance and the Grand Alliance which includes the RJD, Congress, RLSP, HAM and VIP. Issues: Rural distress, unemployment, granting of special status to the state, infrastructure development, law and order situation. Uttarakhand Main contest is between BJP and Congress. Issues: crumbling healthcare, migration from states. Maharashtra Main contest is between BJP-Shiv Sena alliance and Congress-NCP led alliance. Issues: Farm distress and joblessness. Andhra Pradesh

• The forthcoming election will be the first to be held after the bifurcation of the state.
• Main fight: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) vs. YSR Congress (YSRC) Party. BJP and Congress are also contesting in Andhra Pradesh.
• Andhra Pradesh chief minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu has been making a strong pitch for his consecutive second term.
• Naidu, a former BJP ally, walked out of the tie-up in 2018 saying the Narendra Modi government had failed to keep its promise of granting special category status to the state.
• Present government in the state: Chandrababu Naidu of TDP

Issues: Grant of special category status for the state, construction of capital Amaravati, major projects like Polavaram, were among the issues raised in the campaign. Arunachal Pradesh

• Contest - The state is set to witness a three-cornered fight between the ruling BJP, NPP (which is a member of the BJP-led Northeast Democratic Alliance) and the Congress.
• Present Government in the state: BJP government in the state led by Chief Minister Pema Khandu is seeking re-election.
• In 2014, the Congress had emerged victorious after winning 42 seats. The party lost power after many of its MLAs joined PPA. They eventually joined the BJP.
• Since February 2016, Arunachal Pradesh has seen three chief ministers and President’s Rule — making the state’s political landscape unstable. However, Khandu has led a largely stable government since early 2017.

Issues: Citizenship Amendment Bill, Permanent Resident Certificates, Political instability; since 2011, the state has seen 5 chief ministers and a stint of President’s Rule. Assam

• Main fight – BJP (alliance with AGP and Bodoland Peoples Front) vs. Congress.
• Protests across Assam against the proposed Citizenship (Amendment) Bill had cast a shadow on the NDA’s prospects in the North-East, but with the AGP back in the NDA fold after severing ties with them, the BJP will hope to regain its momentum in the region.
• Badruddin Ajmal’s AIUDF is one of the key players in the state, besides the Congress.

Issues: Citizens Amendment bill, Illegal immigration   West Bengal

• West Bengal is not a happy hunting ground for the two big national parties - BJP and Congress.
• It is dominated by a regional party - the Trinamool Congress, and by one person - Mamata Banerjee.
• The Contest: Four cornered contest and Trinamool is up against resurgent BJP. Left parties and Congress are also contesting.
• In 2019, Mamata Banerjee has bigger ambitions, hopes to defeat Narendra Modi-led NDA.
• BJP had edged past the Congress and the Left Front in the panchayat elections last year.
• BJP hopes to ride the anti-incumbency factor and alleged appeasement politics of Mamata Banerjee to position itself as the main opposition party.

Issues: Illegal migration from Bangladesh is also a polarising issue in the state, Citizenship bill, fake currency and cow smuggling. Chhattisgarh Naxal hit Bastar Lok Sabha constituency will go for elections in the first phase. Issues: Unemployment is one of the biggest issues in Chhattisgarh for the urban voters and polls will revolve around them and tribal welfare policies, Naxalism. Jammu & Kashmir Among the two constituencies going to polls in the first phase — Baramulla (mutli-cornered contest) and Jammu (contest between BJP and Congress). Issues: National security, corruption by national parties and regional parties have kept protection of the state's special status as their key poll plank. Telangana

• It appears to be mainly a three-cornered contest between the ruling TRS, Congress and the BJP.
• All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) is strong in Hyderbad seat
• TRS has the backing of Asaduddin Owaisi, which is expected to help the party get minority votes.
• TRS can play a key role at the Centre and ensure a better deal for Telangana if it wins 16 seats.
• Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the ruling party in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, has decided not to field candidates for the Lok Sabha seats in Telangana, a first since its formation in 1982.
• Having suffered a drubbing in the Assembly elections (winning only one seat among 119), BJP is contesting all the seats on its own. The party is banking heavily on the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Issues: Farming distress Odisha

• Odisha will head to polls in four phases throughout April.
• Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for 19 years now, will head to polls simultaneously along with the general elections.
• BJD has dominated Odisha's political discourse for the past two decades.
• The BJD was in alliance with the BJP for nine years from 2000, but Patnaik pulled out of the alliance before the 2009 polls.
• The Congress, meanwhile, has been effectively sidelined. Once a bastion, Congress is now a pale shadow of itself in the state.
• The BJD even managed to dodge the 'Modi wave' of 2014 to retain the state.
• The BJP had set its eyes on Odisha from as far back as 2014, when it got 10 seats in the assembly polls and one seat in the Lok Sabha polls.

Issues: Slow production at mines, unemployment, poverty, starvation deaths, discrimination of lower caste. Tripura The third smallest state in India. Tripura is located near Bangladesh in the Northeastern part of India. Issues: Unemployment, citizenship bill, looming crisis of unemployment and a flagging education system Sikkim

• The main fight is expected to be between the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front and the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha.
• Hamro Sikkim Party launched by former Indian Football captian Bhaichung Bhatia is also contesting.

Issues: the Universal Basic Income (UBI) scheme is a key poll issue, drinking water and electricity problems, road connectivity