(Image source from: It's a do or die for Narendra Modi today})
As the country heads into the fifth phase of the 16th Lok Sabha elections today with polling taking place across 121 seats, it's a do or die situation for the BJP and most important it's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
In short, it's a D-Day for the party which is hoping to cinch a big victory in areas where the party and its NDA allies have formerly dominated as well as elbow into new areas.
Its in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and Jammu and Kashmir that the clout of Modi-magic will be tested today.
Let us take a look at the constituencies that are going to polls today:
Bihar
An electorate of 11,85,07,86 will cast their vote across 11,846 polling stations in Bihar today to decide the fate of 117 candidates. Among the contestants, some prominent names include former Home Secretary RK Singh, actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha, Lalu Prasad's eldest daughter Misa Bharti and her uncles Ranjan Yadav and Ramkripal Yadav.
Karnataka
Single phase elections for 28 Lok Sabha seats kicked off in Karnataka this morning. It's going to be a tough fight between the ruling Congress and the BJP here. Around 4.62 crore voters will exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 435 candidates.
West Bengal
The first phase of the five-phased elections kicks off in West Bengal today in four constituencies of Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri for 47 candidates — four from Trinamool Congress, Congress, BJP and BSP and two from CPI(M), one each from Forward Bloc and RSP and 19 others from registered political parties and eight independents.
Odisha
Voting for the second and last phase flagged off simultaneously for 11 Lok Sabha and 77 Assembly constituencies here. A whopping 1.55 crore eligible voters will decide the fate of 98 candidates for the Lok Sabha and 747 candidates for the Assembly.
Manipur
An 826,755 electorates will cast their vote across 6,398 polling stations in the valley districts of Bishenpur, Imphal East, Imphal West and Thoubal. The bastion of Congress sees Congress MP Th Meinya takes on BJP candidate and former Manipur University Professor R K Ranjan, former Manipur Rifles commandant and Trinamool Congress candidate S Manobi, senior CPI leader M Nara and independent candidate O Indira.
Jharkhand
Polling for 14 Lok Sabha seats across six constituencies of Giridh, Hazaribagh, Jamshedpur, Khunti (ST), Ranchi and Singhbhum (ST) kicks off today under the second phase. Among the noted 106 candidates contesting from these parts are Jayant Sinha, son of Jaswant Sinha, former deputy chief minister, Suresh Mahato of Ajsu party, Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker Karia Munda of BJP, former Team India Manager Amitabh Chowdhury of JVM(P), and former Union minister Subodh Kant Sahay of Congress.
Jammu and Kashmir
Polling kicked off in Udhampur-Dooda Lok Sabha constituency of Jammu and Kashmir. A total of 14.1 lakh voters will decide the fate of 13 candidates that includes Congress heavyweight Ghulam Nabi Azad and BJP spokesperson Jitender Singh.
AW: Suchorita Choudhury
