The general election to the lower house Lok Sabha is to be held from 7 April to 12 May in nine phases. The polls are going to form the 16th Lok Sabha. Though some of the parties are yet to annouce their candidates, here are 10 key contestants for the Lok Sabha election.
Narendra Modi: Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is to contest from Varanasi, the spiritual city of India. He is also likely to contest from a second seat in his home state, most probably from Ahmedabad. Another senior leader of BJP, Murli Manohar Joshi, vacated the Varanasi seat for Modi this time. Joshi is to contest from Kanpur seat against the Union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal.
Sonia Gandhi: Congress president and Chairperson of UPA, Sonia Gandhi is to contest from Rae Bareli. In 1999, she was also elected to Lok Sabha from Bellary in Karnataka. Sonia is a three-term successive MP from Rae Bareli since 2004. Her mother-in-law Indira Gandi was also elected from the same seat to Lok Sabha for three times.
Rahul Gandi: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is to constest from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh again. He contested from the seat successively since 2004 and this would be the third time he is contesting from the constituency.
Sushma Swaraj: The Opposition Leader in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj is to contest from Vidisha constituency in Madhya Pradesh. She got elected from the same seat to the present Lok Sabha. Though she contested from the Bellary seat unsuccessfully in 1999 against Sonia Gandhi, she earned great popularity in Karnataka.
Medha Patkar: Better known for her "Narmada Bachao Andolan' movement, Medha Patkar, a social activist, is to contest from Mumbai North East constituency on a ticket from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). She is pitted against candidates of NCP and Shiv Sena-BJP in the financial capital of India.
Mohammed Kaif: Former cricketer Mohammed Kaif will contest from Phulpur in Uttar Pradesh on a Congress ticket. Late prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru had won the seat three times. The Lok Sabha seat had been a baston of Samajwadi Party from 1996 till 2009. However, in the 2009 polls, Bahujan Samaj Party won the seat. This time, the cricketer's popularity will be put to the test in the election.
Nandan Nilekani: Former Chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) Nandan Nilekani, expected to be the dark horse of Congress, has been very keen to win from Bangalore South constituency. He is to face the BJP's HN Anantha Kumar, a former Union minister and a five-time MP.
Arun Jaitley: For the first time, BJP senior leader Arun Jaitley is constesting the Lok Sabha election. He is getting into the poll fray from Amritsar constituency in Punjab, which has sent Navjot Singh Siddu to the Lok Sabha since 2004. Jaitley has been a familiar face on TV as the BJP spokesperson.
Shatrughan Sinha: Popular yesteryear actor Shatrughan Sinha is to re-contest from Patna Sahib constituency in Bihar. He was elected from the same seat in 2009. He was a Union Cabinet Minister of Health and Family Welfare from January 2003 to May 2004.
Rajnath Singh: BJP president Rajnath Singh is contesting from the Lucknow seat. The constituency was a fortess to former Prime Minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee from 1991 to 2004. Last time, Rajnath had won from the Ghaziabad constituency.
Source: IBTimes.co.in
Narendra Modi: Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is to contest from Varanasi, the spiritual city of India. He is also likely to contest from a second seat in his home state, most probably from Ahmedabad. Another senior leader of BJP, Murli Manohar Joshi, vacated the Varanasi seat for Modi this time. Joshi is to contest from Kanpur seat against the Union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal.
Sonia Gandhi: Congress president and Chairperson of UPA, Sonia Gandhi is to contest from Rae Bareli. In 1999, she was also elected to Lok Sabha from Bellary in Karnataka. Sonia is a three-term successive MP from Rae Bareli since 2004. Her mother-in-law Indira Gandi was also elected from the same seat to Lok Sabha for three times.
Rahul Gandi: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is to constest from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh again. He contested from the seat successively since 2004 and this would be the third time he is contesting from the constituency.
Sushma Swaraj: The Opposition Leader in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj is to contest from Vidisha constituency in Madhya Pradesh. She got elected from the same seat to the present Lok Sabha. Though she contested from the Bellary seat unsuccessfully in 1999 against Sonia Gandhi, she earned great popularity in Karnataka.
Medha Patkar: Better known for her "Narmada Bachao Andolan' movement, Medha Patkar, a social activist, is to contest from Mumbai North East constituency on a ticket from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). She is pitted against candidates of NCP and Shiv Sena-BJP in the financial capital of India.
Mohammed Kaif: Former cricketer Mohammed Kaif will contest from Phulpur in Uttar Pradesh on a Congress ticket. Late prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru had won the seat three times. The Lok Sabha seat had been a baston of Samajwadi Party from 1996 till 2009. However, in the 2009 polls, Bahujan Samaj Party won the seat. This time, the cricketer's popularity will be put to the test in the election.
Nandan Nilekani: Former Chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) Nandan Nilekani, expected to be the dark horse of Congress, has been very keen to win from Bangalore South constituency. He is to face the BJP's HN Anantha Kumar, a former Union minister and a five-time MP.
Arun Jaitley: For the first time, BJP senior leader Arun Jaitley is constesting the Lok Sabha election. He is getting into the poll fray from Amritsar constituency in Punjab, which has sent Navjot Singh Siddu to the Lok Sabha since 2004. Jaitley has been a familiar face on TV as the BJP spokesperson.
Shatrughan Sinha: Popular yesteryear actor Shatrughan Sinha is to re-contest from Patna Sahib constituency in Bihar. He was elected from the same seat in 2009. He was a Union Cabinet Minister of Health and Family Welfare from January 2003 to May 2004.
Rajnath Singh: BJP president Rajnath Singh is contesting from the Lucknow seat. The constituency was a fortess to former Prime Minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee from 1991 to 2004. Last time, Rajnath had won from the Ghaziabad constituency.
Source: IBTimes.co.in
The opinion polls got it wrong in 2004 and 2009: Will 2014 be different?
ReplyDeleteOpinion polls in India, a question mark hangs over their reliability.The election prediction in India is a notoriously unreliable exercise. It suffers from the political biases of the polling agencies and news outlets that produce the polls.
A History of Inaccuracy
In the last two Lok Sabha elections almost all pollsters got it horribly wrong. In the 2004 elections, nearly all pre-election polls suggested a robust victory for the BJP and its allies. The polling agencies and media outlets were left red-faced when the results showed a Congress Party upset.
In the 2009 elections, most polls predicted the winning alliance correctly, but were off the mark on seat projections. "Polls were saying that the UPA would reach 180 to 185, nobody expected it to cross 200, and the final tally of the UPA was 262 seats.
The history was repeated in Delhi Assembly elections, pre-election polls suggested AAP will reach to 4 to 8 seats only.
News outlets do not even conduct the pre-election surveys they publish themselves. Instead, they contract private polling agencies to do the polling for them. The News Express exposed the manipulation method in the sting operation.
All is manage & manipulated
http://www.newzfirst.com/web/guest/full-story/-/asset_publisher/Qd8l/content/the-opinion-polls-got-it-wrong-in-2004-and-2009:-will-2014-be-different?redirect=/web/guest/home
Sting operation reveals massive manipulation by opinion poll agencies
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-02-26/news/47705569_1_opinion-poll-public-opinion-sting-operation