It's ladies vs Pawan Bansal in Chandigarh this time

The Chandigarh seat has 17 candidates in the fray this time, including eight independents.

Chandigarh's over 600,000-strong electorate will decide the fate of the candidates. Out of the total electorate, nearly 60 percent is young - in the age group of 18 to 40 years.

This election is being seen as the toughest one for Bansal, who won here in 1991, 1999, 2004 and 2009, as this time he is fighting the corruption taint against him.

His nephew, Vijay Singla, was arrested by the CBI May last year while accepting a Rs.90-lakh bribe in a cash-for-job scam from a senior railways officer to get him a lucrative posting. Bansal was railways minister at that time.

Bansal, who had enjoyed the image of a clean and soft-spoken leader, was forced to resign from the union government.