Phase 2 of polling will decide on how the opposition shapes up against BJP

New Delhi, Apr 18: Phase of the Lok Sabha elections 2019 will be crucial to the plans of the opposition parties.

In the 2014 elections, the BJP had won 27 out of the 95 seats. Six seats went to the NDA partners. The Congress on the other hand won only 12 of these 95 seats, while its UPA partners bagged three seats. This means that 47 of the remaining seats went to the non NDA and non UPA parties.

In the 2014 elections, it may be recalled that the AIADMK had swept the elections in Tamil Nadu. It had won 37 out of the 39 seats. This year the prospects of the party, without Jayalalithaa look bleak. The party is an alliance with the BJP and opinion polls have suggested that the DMK-Congress combine has its nose ahead in Tamil Nadu.

The other important state to poll today is Karnataka, where the BJP has pinned its hopes. This year the battle for the BJP is tougher as it is taking on the combine of the JD(S) and Congress in 14 seats, which is in the southern part of the state. In the 2014 polls, the BJP had won 6 out of the 14 seats.

In Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, polling will be held in five and eight seats respectively. In UP, the BJP had won 8 of these seats in 2014, while in Bihar it failed to win any of the five seats. This time, the BJP is up against the SP-BSP combine in UP. In Bihar the JD(U) which fought against the BJP in 2014 had won all the five seats. This year, the JD(U) has teamed up with the BJP and is contesting all the five seats it had won in 2014.

In Maharashtra, the BJP is up against the Congress and NCP and ten parliamentary constituencies will go to poll today. The NDA had won of the 10 seats in 2014. The voting in Chhattisgarh would be keenly watched. The BJP had won all 3 seats in 2014. However, the party was defeated in the 2018 assembly elections and hence it would be interesting to see if the Congress can continue with its winning streak.