Uttar Pradesh Elections 2022: In third phase, SP eying to regain lost territory

Lucknow: In the third phase of Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, Samajwadi Party (SP) Chief Akhilesh Yadav would have to prove whether he has been able to save the family fort or not.

In 16 districts of central UP and Bundelkhand, 59 seats would go for polls on Sunday. These include Etawah, Mainpuri, Auraiyya, Farrukhabad, Jhansi, Hamirpur, Hathrus, Kannauj, Kanpur city and rural, Jalaun, Mahoba, Lalitpur, Freozabad, Kasganj and Etah districts. Of these 16 districts going for polls on Sunday seven have been known as bastion of SP and before 2017 polls, the party had been performing well in these areas. However in the 2017 assembly polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had given a severe jolt to SP and snatched most of the seats from it. In the 2017 assembly polls, BJP had won 38 seats of the total 59 of the third phase while SP could get only 8. However, in 2012, the SP had won 37 seats in this region.

Enthused with the kind of support he is getting in the campaign rallies and reunion with once estranged uncle Shivpal Yadav as well as founder of SP Mulayam Singh Yadav himself addressing meetings, Akhilesh has been hoping to regain the lost ground. Most of the districts of central UP going for polls on Sunday have been nurtured as Samajwadi fort by SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav. Though not being very active in this election but his addressing a single rally for Akhilesh at Karhal and issuing an appeal for SP could make an impact on voters. However for BJP, the consolidation of non-Yadav backward voters had been the basis of winning maximum number of seats in the 2017 assembly polls and 2019 parliament elections in this region.

To counter BJP in these elections, SP Chief Akhilesh has fielded a large number of non Yadav OBC candidates on the 59 seats of fourth phase. Besides BJP and SP, the BSP too had been a major player in this phase with the presence of large number of Dalit voters on many of the seats including in Etawah, Mainpuri, Ferozabad, Lalitpur, Hamirpur and Etah districts.

The prominent candidates in the fray in third phase are Akhilesh Yadav from Karhal against who Union Minister SP Singh Baghel is contesting, Shivpal Yadav from Jaswantnagar, UP minister Satish Mahana from Kanpur, former police commissioner of Kanpur Amis Arun from Kannauj, State Minister Nilima Katiyar from Kalyanpur and congress leader Luis Khusheed from Farrukhabad.

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Phase Third

Districts 16, Seats 59

Candidates 627 ( 97 Women)

Total Voters--- 2.16 crore

Male Voters--- 1.16 crore

Female Voters--- 99 Lakh

Third Gender --- 1060

Polling Centres--- 15557

Polling Booths--- 25794

Published on: Saturday, February 19, 2022, 05:52 PM IST