UP polls: SP still leading the race

New Delhi: The strength of the Opposition parties when it comes to being face to face with the Samajwadi Party will be tested when they go to the first phase of Uttar Pradesh assembly polls on April 7 in the constituencies considered as strongholds of the ruling party.

Out of 62 seats on which the first phase polling is to be held, a maximum of 24 are in the possession of SP followed by Bharatiya Janata Party (16) and Bahujan Samaj Party (14).

The 13 districts involved in the first phase include Etawah, the hometown of the UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mainpuri, Kannauj, Agra, Etah, Kanpur Dehat, Ferozabad and dacoit-infested Madhya Pradesh border districts of

Banda, Mahoba, Hamirpur and Jhansi.

The first phase is considered significant as far as the law and order is concerned and the election machinery has already announced to deploy heavy force during the polling process.

Dreaded dacoit Dadua, who has influence in the region, had supported BSP in the last elections but this time he was being tipped to be close to the ruling dispensation.

His brother Bal Kumar, who incidentally, is the SP candidate from Patti,

Pratapgarh will be going to the polls in the later phase.

Significantly, CM Mulayam Singh Yadav is also the candidate from Bharthana in Etawah district while his brother and UP PWD Minister Shiv Pal Yadav, is the SP candidate from Jaswantnagar assembly constituency.

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Notably, Kalyan Singh, the projected BJP chief ministerial candidate in UP, is all out to thwart any attempt of SP to regain power even as he was the one who had harmed the BJP the most in the last elections when he had contested his Rashtriya Kranti Party (RKP) in understanding with the SP and had won a lone seat from this belt.

All the 62 constituencies have a predominance of backward castes and the caste equations are likely to play a major role in the polls.

The Election Commission (EC) would review the first phase polls with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) N Gopalaswami himself reviewing the first phase arrangements at Kanpur on March 26 and later in Agra on March 28.

Altogether 848 candidates are in the fray for the 62 assembly seats in phase-I polls.

The constituencies going to polls are Aryanagar, Madhogarh, Sisamau(SC), Bhogaon, Generalganj, Kishni(SC), Kanpur Cantonment, Karhal, Govind Nagar, Shikohabad, Kalyanpur, Jasrana, Sarsaul, Ghiror, Ghatampur, Mainpuri, Bhognipur(SC), Aliganj, Rajpur, Patiyali, Sarvankhera, Sakeet, Chaubepur, Soron, Bilhaur(SC), Kasganj, Derapur, Etah, Auraiya,

Among others constituencies are Nidhauli Kalan, Ajitmal, Jalesar(SC), Lakhana, Firozabad, Etawah, Bah, Jaswantnagar, Fatehabad, Bharthana, Tundla(SC), Bidhuna, Etmadpur(SC), Hamirpur, Dayalbagh, Maudaha, Agra Cantonment, Rath, Agra East, Charkhari, Agra West(SC), Mahoba, Kheragarh, Mehroni, Fatehpur Sikri, Lalitpur, Jhansi, Babina(SC), Mauranipur(SC), Garautha, Konch(SC), Orai and Kalpi.