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    Lok Sabha 2019: A Sunny day for Deol Jr? Will the ‘Rangeela’ girl shine? Can Gambhir score on debut?

    Synopsis

    Thursday will see the seasoned and the newbies trying their luck.

    (L-R) Sunny Deol, Urmila Matondkar and Gautam Gambhir
    (L-R) Sunny Deol, Urmila Matondkar and Gautam Gambhir
    NEW DELHI: The world's biggest elections process - conducted over seven phases - concluded on Sunday. After the five-week exercise, all eyes are now fixed on the final outcome. As the counting of votes begins on Thursday morning 8:00 am, there is much anticipation over who will form the next government, and who gets to occupy the famed address of 7, Race Course Road in Delhi.

    And as the incumbent National Democratic Alliance government, buoyed by Sunday’s exit poll results that hinted at a majority for the Modi-led coalition, looks forward to do an encore, the Opposition, led by Congress and other parties, remains optimistic.

    Family barbs, temple run, memes, cave visits, mud-slinging, WhatsApp forwards, EVM tampering - the campaign for the 16th Lok Sabha elections has seen the personal and the political merge in the public sphere.


    But, on Thursday, all eyes will be on the 542 winners from constituencies across the country. From seasoned politicians to newbies and political dynasts and celebrities, this election has seen a cross-section of candidates trying their luck.

    If Sunny Deol raised the BJP’s pitch in ‘Gadar’-style while campaigning in Gurdaspur from where he is contesting, Gautam Gambhir is hoping to hit it out of the park in East Delhi where the former cricketer is contesting on a BJP ticket.

    The Congress, too, tried to up the star quotient by roping in Vijender Singh - who is contesting from South Delhi - and Urmila Matondkar who is taking on incumbent BJP MP Gopal Shetty from Mumbai North constituency.

    Miles away in West Bengal - that has seen a bloody campaign as a result of TMC-BJP skirmishes - Mamata Banerjee has got Bengali actresses Mimi Chakraborty and Nusrat Jahan to raise the party’s fortunes.

    ​Shatrughan Singh and wife Poonam​
    Shatrughan Singh and wife Poonam

    And if all is fair in love and war, it’s the same in modern-day politics too. While Shatrughan Sinha left the BJP after a 15-year association and joined the Congress, his wife Poonam Sinha is making her political debut from Lucknow on a Samajwadi Party ticket. With Shotgun campaigning for his wife, clearly politics can be a family business.

    But the political interns are not the only ones who are nervous about Thursday. Veterans including Smriti Irani (who is pitted against Congress chief Rahul Gandhi), Hema Malini, Moon Moon Sen and Raj Babbar will be eager to better their scores and make a statement as well.

    And now, as the vote has been cast and the last call made, it's time to see who forms the new government.

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