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Apart from the fact that the largest chunk of 121 of 543 Lok Sabha seats will go to the polls on Thursday, the outcome of the election has serious implications for a clutch of state governments, the honour of half-a-dozen political parties and the fortunes of nearly 100 national political leaders.
About 195 million voters will have their say to decide out of 1,762 candidates. With the close of this election, the fate of nearly half the Lok Sabha will have been decided, 230 seats will have gone to the polls.
Karnataka, which gave the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) its first government in the south, will see voting for all its 28 seats in one go and the BJP will have to see if it was worth it to bring B S Yeddyurappa and controversial Bellary mining baron B Sreeramulu back into the party fold. Both were responsible for causing a vertical rift in the party because of their re-induction. The victory or otherwise of Nandan Nilekani will also decide whether good governance has had any role in this election.
Rajasthan, with 25 seats, will go to the hustings as a state. In the Assembly elections last year, the BJP had pulled off a stunning performance in many ways, causing a problem of plenty. Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is facing a serious problem in keeping her flock together. It is also a state which has seen several visits by Narendra Modi. The Congress changed its party chief, putting Sachin Pilot in charge but factionalism continues to dog the party in the state.
The journey of Jaswant Singh, expelled by the BJP for deciding to contest as an independent from Barmer, is one of the most followed from the state, along with Olympic silver-medallist shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore's electoral debut.
Maharashtra will see voting in 19 seats across the arid, backward region of Marathwada, the sugar belt in the western part of the state and a part of coastal Konkan.
This round has an interesting mix of candidates. From the old guard, Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, Ashok Chavan and Gopinath Munde are in the fray, along with second-generation leaders such as Supriya Sule and Nilesh Narayan Rane.
In Uttar Pradesh, voting will be held in 11 constituencies. Former Union minister and BJP candidate Maneka Gandhi is trying her luck for a seventh time in a Lok Sabha contest from Pilibhit.
In Odisha, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik faces a serious challenge from a resurgent BJP. Eleven seats are going to the polls in Odisha.
In Madhya Pradesh, the sway of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will be tested as polling is held for 10 seats, including capital Bhopal and Gwalior.
Bihar will see voting for seven seats. There is a sense of regret among voters, not just that the Janata Dal (United)-BJP alliance broke down but also that they are being forced to choose between the two groups. Although Lalu Prasad is still in the reckoning, political analysts say the old magic is missing.
Actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha, former Union Home Secretary R K Singh and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad's daughter, Misa Bharti, are among the big names.
