Phase 5 of Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Key Contests and Constituencies

Lok Sabha elections phase 5: Voting for the fifth phase of the ongoing general polls in the country is slated to take place on May 20 (Monday). In this phase, voters in 49 seats across 6 states and 2 union territories will exercise their right to franchise. 

In the fifth phase to be held on May 20, polling will take place across 5 seats in Bihar, 3 seats in Jharkhand, 13 seats in Maharashtra, 5 seats in Odisha, 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, 7 seats in West Bengal, 1 each in Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. 

Lok Sabha 5 Phase Election Main Candidates

Rahul Gandhi (Rae Bareli): A three-time MP from Amethi, Rahul Gandhi lost the seat to BJP’s Smriti Irani in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he chose Rae Bareli as his second seat after Wayanad. He is up against BJP’s Dinesh Pratap Singh, credited for reducing Sonia Gandhi’s victory margin by half in Rae Bareli in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Rachana Banerjee (Hooghly): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee fielded Rachana Banerjee as the Trinamool Congress candidate from the Hooghly seat. Rachana Banerjee, the host of the popular Bengali television show ‘Didi No. 1’, is pitted against BJP candidate Locket Chatterjee.

Smriti Irani (Amethi): Smriti Irani, the Women and Child Development Minister, is the BJP candidate from this constituency. She defeated Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in 2019 with over 55,000 votes from Amethi. As Rahul Gandhi chooses to contest from Rae Bareli, the Congress has pitted Kishori Lal Sharma against Irani. Sharma, hailing from Ludhiana, spent over 40 years managing the Amethi seat.

Rajnath Singh (Lucknow): Defence minister Rajnath Singh is seeking a third term as MP from Lucknow which is a BJP stronghold. In the 2019 election, Singh defeated Samajwadi Party’s Poonam Sinha while he defeated Congress candidate Rita Bahuguna Joshi in 2014. The Samajwadi Party has fielded Ravidas Mehrotra from this seat.

Piyush Goyal (Mumbai North): Union Commerce minister and BJP leader Piyush Goyal is set to make his Lok Sabha poll debut from this seat. He is facing Congress leader Bhushan Patil. Patil, vice president of the Congress’ Mumbai unit, had contested the 2009 Lok Sabha election from Borivali.

Ujjwal Nikam (Mumbai North Central ): Renowned lawyer Ujjwal Nikam of the BJP and Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad will lock horns in this seat. Nikam was the special public prosecutor in the case related to the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. He also handled the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.

Arvind Sawant (Mumbai South): Arvind Sawant of Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena faction is aiming for a hat trick. He is facing Yamini Jadhav of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena seeking to storm Sawant’s bastion. Sawant has served this constituency as an MP since 2014. He briefly served as the Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises in 2019.