New Delhi, May 7 (Agencies) : The Rahul Gandhi versus Smriti Irani versus Kumar Vishwas contest in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, is among the high-decibel fights in this phase where 95 million voters across seven states decide the electoral fortunes of 897 candidates.
The other big talking point in this phase is Seemandhra (coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema) in the wake of the decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh for the creation of Telangana state.
After this phase, polling for 502 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats will be completed.
Of the 64 seats where polling is underway, the Congress had won 34 in 2009; the Bahujan Samaj Party five; the Bharatiya Janata Party, CPI(M), Janata Dal (United) and the Telugu Desam Party four each; and the Samajwadi Party three.
The political dynamics, however, have changed in the Seemandhra region, which paid rich dividends to the Congress in 2004 and 2009, following the decision to create Telangana.
Political observers do not rate the party's chances highly either in Telangana, where elections for 17 seats were held last Wednesday, or in Seemandhra, where polling is on for 25 seats.
The assembly polls are being held simultaneously for 175 constituencies in Seemandhra. The stakes are high for YS Jaganmohan Reddy's YSR Congress. The BJP is hopeful of a strong showing in partnership with N Chandrababu Naidu's TDP.
After Andhra Pradesh, the next biggest chunk of Lok Sabha seats up for grabs is in eastern Uttar Pradesh (15).
Alongside Rahul, BJP's Varun Gandhi and cricketer Mohammad Kaif are among the other big names in the fray.
Most experts have viewed UP as a three-cornered contest among the BJP, SP and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). The Congress will be hoping to prove all such views wrong. It had won 21 of the state's 80 seats (the highest among states) in 2009.
In Bihar, voting will be held in seven seats. Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan, who has joined hands with the BJP, is contesting from Hajipur.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad's comeback is among the big talking points in Bihar. His wife and former chief minister Rabri Devi is in the fray in Saran, where the BJP has fielded Rajiv Pratap Rudy.
In West Bengal, actor Moon Moon Sen and playback singer Babul Supriyo are in the fray. Sen, a Trinamool Congress candidate, is up against CPM's Basudeb Acharia, a nine-time MP, in Bankura.
Voting in Uttarakhand (five seats) and Himachal Pradesh (four seats) ends in one go.
Polling also ends in Jammu and Kashmir with voting in Baramulla and Ladakh on Monday.
This phase will mark the completion of more than 92% of voting in the Indian elections, which will enter the home stretch leading up to the final phase of polling on May 12 in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal.