Election Results 2019: Four Things You Should Be Watching Closely Today

Transcript:

Today is counting day. So as the vote counts come in, we’d like to talk to you about four themes that could the deciding factors in various constituencies across India.

Let’s start with Sabarimala.

The Pathanamthitta constituency, where the Sabarimala temple is situated, is one of the important seats to watch out for today. One, because of the Sabarimala controversy, and two, for the fact that Kerala has never had a BJP parliamentarian before and this might be a good shot for them.

BJP’s K Surendran, who led the Sabarimala protests, is fielded from Pathanamthitta. Will he be able to edge past Congress’ Anto Antony and CPI(M)’s Veena George? Keep a watch there.

Do also check the numbers for Thiruvananthapuram. There’s a contest there happening between Congress’ Shashi Tharoor and BJP’s Kumannam Rajashekaran.

Next, Balakot strikes.

Voting in the first phase of the elections took off not long after India’s air strikes inside Pakistan, avenging the Pulwama terror attacks.

The voting kicked off in states like Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, and West Bengal.

Though Balakot strikes aren’t expected to play a decisive part in the North East, over the last couple of years, the BJP has almost taken the entire region by storm. So BJP’s hold there is likely to continue.

However, in areas like Western UP and northern Bihar, the strikes might have had some influence among the voters. Watch out for the numbers there.

Bhopal

Much has been talked about the candidature of Pragya Singh Thakur since her acquittal in the Malegaon blasts case. What you should know is that the Bhopal seat has been a stronghold for the BJP since its Jana Sangh days. Despite the presence of a significant Muslim population in the constituency, Digvijaya Singh’s lack of popularity may open up space for Sadhvi to take the seat this time.

And lastly, Amethi.

Rahul Gandhi faced off against Smriti Irani at Amethi. And it’s looking like a close contest.

Rahul Gandhi has been the Amethi legislator for 15 years, but this time he has also chosen to contest from Wayanad in Kerala.

The Congress president’s hold over Amethi seems be on the way down. In 2009, he had a victory margin of over 3 lakh, but in 2014, Irani had put up such a strong fight that the margin had dropped to a lakh.

This time, it will come down to what Amethi thinks of Rahul’s performance and what impact Modi government’s schemes, like Ujjwala, Saubhagya, and Awas Yojana, have had on the electorate.

Keep watching our website today for regular updates and analyses. And we have plenty of video election coverage that you can watch. For that, check out our YouTube channel. And subscribe!