A well and truly urban constituency

NEW DELHI - While most Lok Sabha seats have a fair amount of urban and rural areas for politicians to cover during campaigns, Chandigarh enjoys the unique distinction of being essentially an urban one.

The 114-sq km union territory - which is the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana and was designed in post-independence India by French architect Le Corbusier - has just one Lok Sabha seat.

Though there are nearly a dozen villages in the union territory, most of them reflect an extension of the city’s urban lifestyle. Given the limited area, the leaders do not have to travel long distances or spend too much time in rural areas.

Of course, like most metros, they have to pay a lot of attention to slum areas - the real war zone that could mean victory or defeat for candidates.