LS polls now in regions where BJP gained most in 2014

More than half of India have voted to seal the fate of candidates in more than half of the 543 constituencies by Tuesday and electioneering is now entering a decisive phase with the rest of the voting happening in regions where BJP pocketed the highest in 2014.

By Tuesday, around 48.57 crore of the 89.87 crore people were eligible to vote in 302 seats that went to polls in three phases while the rest can vote in 241 seats in the next four phases that ends on May 19.

The campaigning is entering a new phase as the Hindi heartland states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and more than half of seats in Uttar Pradesh – the states from where BJP pocketed a substantial number of seats – are going to the polling booth.

Of the 241 seats going to polls in the next four phases, BJP has sitting MPs in 146 seats with 46 coming from Uttar Pradesh, 26 from Madhya Pradesh, 25 from Rajasthan, 18 from Bihar and 12 from Jharkhand. Delhi and Haryana also contributed seven each seats to BJP in the 2014 elections.

Pollsters are certain and party leaders admit that the BJP is not going to repeat the 2014 feat this time. Also, pollsters do not share the BJP's confidence that gains from Odisha and West Bengal would cover up the losses else where.

In the first three phases, BJP alone had 122 sitting MPs from 302 seats that went to polls. BJP not touching the 150-mark was mainly because majority of these seats that went to polls were in the south and north-east where the saffron party had not been able to make much headway in 2014 except in Karnataka and in Assam.

One of the major attraction was the single phase polls in Gujarat on Tuesday where BJP had won all the 26 seats. This time too, BJP does not have much challenge in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state and pollsters give a maximum of one or two seats to Congress though it had given a spirited fight in 2017 Assembly polls.

Another keenly watched fight was in Kerala where BJP is desperate to open account and was trying to milk the Sabarimala issue, which also found a mention in party manifesto, to woo voters. It is to be seen how voters react to BJP's campaign against Supreme Court allowing women's entry in the Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala and whether it would help the saffron party.

However, BJP has not performed very well in the 26 seats in Uttar Pradesh, of which most of them were its sitting seats

As the polling progressed in the past one month, one also witnessed BJP fielding Malegaon terror strike accused Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, who made controversial statements on martyred Hemant Karkare and Babri Masjid demolition.

It also slowly raised the Hindutva pitch by consistently bringing in Balakot air strike and Pakistan despite Election Commission strictures, extending National Registry of Citizens across India and remarks like Congress president Rahul Gandhi is contesting from a minority concentrated Wayanad.