Lucknow, May 12
Controversial BJP leader Varun Gandhi, cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin, film star Jaya Prada, sitting Union Minister Jitin Prasad and a former minister Saleem Sherwani are in the fray in the fifth and final round of polling in the state tomorrow.
Of the 14 seats in this phase located in western UP and the central terai region, two seats--- Dharaura and Nagina (reserved) --- had come into existence after the delimitation exercise.
As many as 204 candidates are in the fray. The highest numbers of candidates (23) are contesting from Bijnore Lok Sabha seat while Bareily has the lowest number with eight contestants.
In 2004, the Samajwadi Party had won six of these seats while the BJP had bagged two. The BSP, Congress, Rashtriya Lok Dal and JD (U) had one seat each and one Independent had won from the Amroha seat.
In a largely dull, issueless election, Pilibhit BJP candidate Varun Gandhi created some uproar by his hate speeches, dramatic surrender, subsequent imposition of NSA, midnight shift to Etah jail on grounds of security, undertaking to the apex court to behave, release on parole and finally the annulment of NSA.
Tomorrow it would become clear if this spectacle has paid political mileage to either party in terms of winning seats. By far, the SP has the most at stake in this phase. Once again the political impact of the party’s newfound alliance with former BJP leader Kalyan Singh is at test in this phase.
Rebel founder leader of the party Mohammad Azam Khan questioning the very secular credentials of Mulayam Singh Yadav’s party following his friendship with Kalyan Singh only created a complex situation for SP candidate Jaya Prada in Rampur.
It also sent a strong message across the state, especially in these 14 seats as they have a sizeable number of Muslims in almost each single constituency. At least three Muslim MPs who were with the SP are now not with the party. Five times SP MP Saleem Sherwani (Baduan) is now with the Congress and facing Mulayam’s nephew.
Similarly, Shahid Siddiqui (Bijnore), who quit the party post the nuclear deal, is with the BSP and Shafiqur Rahman Barq, unhappy with the Kalyan factor, is riding the elephant in Sambhal.
This phase, in fact, includes five of the nine districts in the state that figure among the top 50 districts in the country in terms of large percentage of Muslim population.
They are Rampur (49.1 per cent Muslim population), Moradabad (45.5), Bijnore (41.7), Amroha or Jyotiba Phule Nagar (39.4) and Saharanpur (39.1). Even Nagina, a reserved constituency, has 42 per cent Muslim and only 21.6 per cent Scheduled Castes voters.
With the sitting seats becoming reserved, Central minister Jitin Prasad had to shift from his family’s traditional seat of Shahjehanpur to the newly carved constituency of Dharaura. Here he is in direct fight with BSP candidate Rajesh Verma, a sitting MP from Sitapur, who has also shifted to Dharaura this time.
