UP poll phase-3: Final push to woo voters

Tribune News Service

Vibha Sharma

New Delhi, February 18

Campaigning for the third phase of the UP elections ended today, with senior leaders of all parties making the last-ditch attempt to woo voters in 59 constituencies spread across 16 districts.

As many as 627 candidates are in the fray in the third phase, in which over 2.15 crore people are eligible to vote.

The districts where polling will be held are Hathras, Firozabad, Etah, Kasganj, Mainpuri, Farrukhabad, Kannauj, Etawah, Auraiya, Kanpur Dehat, Kanpur Nagar, Jalaun, Jhanshi, Lalitpur, Hamirpur and Mahoba.

The Karhal Assembly seat in Mainpuri, from where Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is contesting against BJP’s SP Singh Baghel, will also go to the polls in this phase on Sunday.

Baghel was recently provided ‘Z’ category security after his convoy was allegedly attacked in Mainpuri district.

The SP had managed to retain Karhal even in the 2017 Assembly elections when the BJP wave swept through UP.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today claimed the SP chief “will lose his deposit in Karhal. The region was once a stronghold of the SP, but in 2017, the BJP managed to turn the tables winning 49 seats while the SP landed with just nine and Congress one.

Seats considered to be the Yadav stronghold were also bagged by the BJP which observers blamed on the family feud between Akhilesh and uncle Shivpal Yadav.

Now that Akhilesh has mended fences with Shivpal and is contesting from the Karhal to re-establish the relations with the region, it remains to be seen how it reacts on Sunday.

The phase includes Hathras where a gangrape in 2020 shook the nation. Akhilesh managed to keep the Hathras issue alive while campaigning and has also been observing “Hathras ki beti smriti divas”.

The other constituencies are Kasganj, where a custodial death of Altaf took place and Kannuaj, where raids allegedly conducted on a perfume trader “affiliated to the BJP” caused major embarrassment for the Adityanath government.

SP has 52 crorepatis, BJP 48

Noida: The SP has fielded the maximum 52 candidates having assets worth over Rs 1 crore, while the BJP stands second in the list with 48 such contestants for the third phase of the Uttar Pradesh polls, according to a report. PTI

Triple-talaq victim sides with BJP

Lucknow: A 27-year-old burqa-clad woman, who is a triple-talaq victim, is campaigning for the BJP in the UP Assembly polls to make the Muslim women realise the “good work” being done by the saffron party in the state. PTI

Poll-bound districts

Hathras, Firozabad, Etah, Kasganj, Mainpuri, Farrukhabad, Kannauj, Etawah, Auraiya, Kanpur Dehat, Kanpur Nagar, Jalaun, Jhanshi, Lalitpur, Hamirpur and Mahoba

Key contestants

• SP’s Akhilesh Yadav and SP Singh Baghel from Karhal
• Shivpal Yadav from Jaswantnagar
• BJP’s Satish Mahana from Maharajpur in Kanpur and Ramvir Upadhaya (Sadabad in Hathras)
• Ex-IPS officer Asim Arun from Kannauj Sadar on BJP ticket

Number of seats 59

Candidates in fray 627

No. of eligible voters 2.15 cr

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