High stakes for Cong

The Congress has high stakes in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Thursday involving 92 seats.

The Congress and its allies hold 50 seats, whereas the BJP and partners hold 23 seats.
Some areas like Vidharva have been traditional strong hold of the Congress.

In Uttar Pradesh, the third phase polling will cover 10 seats of western UP including the riot-hit Muzaffarnagar. The Congress could not win any seat in this region last time. The BJP had won 2 seats and the Samajwadi Party only one. The BSP was the major gainer in 2009 with 5 seats.

Kerala will undergo a one-day polling to all its 20 seats in the third phase. The Congress with its allies had 16 in the last Lok Sabha. The rest 4 seats were wrested by the Left Democratic Front. The LDF is expecting to win more seats this time.

In Bihar, only 6 seats are being covered on Thursday. The Congress has only 1 seat and the BJP won 2 seats. The majority stakeholder is Janata Dal-United with 3 seats.

Like Kerala, Haryana goes to single-phase election to all its 10 seats. The Congress had won 8 of the seats and BJP none. Two seats were won by Bhajan Lal’s son Kuldip Bishnoi’s party Haryana Janhit Congress.

All the seats in Delhi, which are going to polls on Thursday are currently in possession of the Congress. The emergence of the Aam Aadmi party in the last assembly elections has changed the situation and the Congress is finding it hard to retain its Parliamentary seats.

In Madhya Pradesh, 9 seats will undergo voting. Out of 9, the BJP and the Congress each has 4 seats. One seat is with the BSP.