Polling begins for 57 seats in 6th phase of UP

Lucknow, March 3 (UNI) Polling began for 57 seats spread over 10 districts of the Purvanchal region in the sixth phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections on Thursday. Polling is being held in Ambedkar Nagar, Balrampur, Siddharth Nagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria and Ballia districts. In this phase, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is contesting from the Gorakhpur Sadar seat. This is the first time that he will be contesting an assembly election. Voting which began at 7 am will continue till 6 pm. Chief Electoral Officer Ajay Kumar Shukla said that 2.15 crore voters, including 1.15 crore male and 1 crore female, are eligible to vote to decide the electoral fortune of 676 candidates. There are 66 women candidates in the fray in this phase. Polling is being held at 25,326 booths set up at 13,936 polling stations. Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said nine assembly constituencies Gorakhpur Sadar, Bansi, Itawa, Domariyaganj, Ballia Sadar, Phephna, Bairia, Sikandarpur and Bansdih have been categorized as sensitive. The ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), which faced a tough challenge from Samajwadi Party (SP) in the previous phases, hopes to get an edge over its opponents in the Purvanchal region of the state. To maintain its dominance in the last two phases of UP polls, BJP has campaigned extensively. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP president JP Nadda and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath have held several rallies in support of their party candidates, as well as those of allies Apna Dal (Sonelal) and Nishad Party. Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati have also campaigned extensively. SP has made the contest more interesting by fielding Shabhawati Shukla, wife of former BJP leader Upendra Shukla, who was once state vice-president of BJP. He had also contested Lok Sabha polls from Gorakhpur, after Yogi resigned on being named as the CM. The prestige of six ministers in the Yogi government is also at stake. Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi is contesting from Pathardeva seat in Kushinagar district. He is facing a tough challenge from former minister and SP candidate Brahma Shankar Tripathi. Similarly, on the Itawa seat in Siddharth Nagar district Basic Education Minister (Independent Charge) Satish Chandra Dwivedi is facing a challenge from former Vidhan Sabha speaker and veteran SP leader Mata Prasad Pandey. Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh is the fray from Bansi seat in Siddharth Nagar district. Among junior ministers in the Yogi government Anand Swarup Shukla is contesting from Bairia seat in Ballia district. Minister of State Jai Prakash Nishad from Rudrapur in Deoria district. He is facing a challenge from former MLA and national spokesman of Congress Akhilesh Pratap Singh. Minister of State Shri Ram Chauhan is trying his luck from Khajani seat in Gorakhpur seat. This phase will decide the luck of former minister Swami Prasad Maurya who quit from the post of cabinet minister in the Yogi government and BJP to join SP rank. Swami Prasad Maurya has shifted from his traditional seat Padrauna to

Fazil Nagar. Like previous phases, this round is once again going to be a litmus test for Congress as its state president Ajay Kumar Lallu is contesting from Tamkuhi Raj seat in Kushinagar district for the third time. Among other prominent candidates Vinay Tiwari, son of gangster turned politician Hari Shankar Tiwari, is contesting from Chillupar in Gorakhpur district on SP ticket. He quit BSP to join SP. BJP state vice-president Daya Shankar Singh is contesting from Ballia Sadar seat against former minister and SP candidate Narad Rai. Aman Mani Tripathi, son of Amar Mani Tripathi, who is serving life sentence in poetess Madhumita Shukla murder case, is contesting from Nautanwa seat in Maharajganj district on BSP ticket. Shalabh Mani Tripathi, media advisor of the CM, is contesting from Deoria seat. Out of the 57 seats in this phase, BJP won 46, its ally Apna Dal 1 and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) 1, SP 3, BSP 4, Congress 1 and one seat went to the independent. This time SBSP is contesting polls in alliance with SP. For BJP’s biggest challenge is to maintain its dominance in this phase as well. “The party is contesting this poll on the plank of good governance and development, but there are certain issues which may hurt the prospects of the party,” a political analyst said. He said, “Though there is no apparent resentment against the government, on seats the voters are unhappy with the BJP candidates for one reason or the other. Besides, the problem of stray animals is posing a challenge before the BJP. Though SP is trying to take advantage of both the issues and it’s president Akhilesh Yadav is raising these two in every rally and public meetings, it doesn’t seem to make much impact in this region,” a political analyst said. He said that BSP cannot be rejected outrightly keeping in view the caste equation in this region. “Dalits and other backward castes are deciding factors on a number of seats and had been voting en bloc in the favour of BSP in the past. BSP may have not performed well in the last elections, but it has its base in this phase,” he said. “In the sixth phase 824 hamlets and localities have been identified as vulnerable, whereas 2,962 polling booths have been marked as critical,” he said. Kumar said in this phase 109 pink booths have been set up where 19 female inspectors and sub-inspectors and 259 constables and head constables have been deployed. In this phase 797.94 companies of central forces have been deployed. From UP police force, 6,783 inspector and sub-inspectors, 57,550 constables and head constables along with 17.1 companies of PAC, 46,236 home guards, 1,627 PRD jawans and 15,004 chowkidars have been deployed.