UP poll phase-II: Fate of five ministers at stake; Azam Khan fighting from Rampur

Vibha Sharma

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New Delhi, February 13

The stage is set for the second phase of polling in 55 Assembly constituencies covering nine districts of Uttar Pradesh — Saharanpur, Bijnor, Moradabad, Sambhal, Rampur, Amroha, Badaun, Bareilly and Shahjahanpur. Around two crore voters will decide the fate of 586 candidates, including five ministers in the Yogi Adityanath government, on Monday.

The day will also see senior SP leader Mohammad Azam Khan contest from his traditional bastion Rampur. He has been in jail since February 2020, with close to 100 FIRs lodged against him. Akash Saxena, who is behind several of land-grabbing and encroachment cases against Khan, is the BJP candidate from Rampur

The “richest” candidate, Congress’ Nawab Kazim Ali Khan with declared assets worth Rs 296 crore is also contesting from the constituency.

The BJP has been cornering the SP for giving ticket to candidates with “criminal” record like Azam Khan. In defence, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav said, “Azam Khan is in jail for building a university, while the son of a Union Minister is out of jail in the case of running over farmers.”

Khan’s son Abdullah Azam is contesting from Swar against Haider Ali Khan of the Apna Dal (Sonelal), a BJP ally.

Other prominent faces include minister Dharam Singh Saini, who switched to the SP, in Nakur. Banking heavily on Muslim support, Saini is expected to face tough challenge from BSP’s Sahil Khan.

Tight security in place

• 5,000 ‘critical’ booths
• 60,000 cops, 800 CAPF companies deployed
• Unaccounted cash, gold, silver, illicit liquor and drugs worth Rs 11 crore seized