Uttar Pradesh begins to vote in the first phase on February 10 on 58 seats across 11 districts — Shamli, Hapur, Gautam Budh Nagar, Meerut, Baghpat, Muzzafarnagar, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Mathura and Agra. The counting of votes will begin on March 10.
The campaigning for the first phase was restricted to virtual media as the Election Commission had banned physical rallies and road shows in the wake of Omicron-led Covid pandemic. With the Jat-dominant West UP in the first phase, tomorrow’s election will seal the fate of ministers in the Yogi Adityanath government.
News18 brings you the top 10 ground reports from the constituencies, which will vote tomorrow:
Who will Win West UP?
From Saharanpur to Agra, the Western Uttar Pradesh (UP) belt going to polls in the earlier phases, has often determined the mood of the state’s assembly elections. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept this area the last elections. This time, it faces a strong challenge from the Samajwadi Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal alliance, but it has an ally of its own — law and order. News18 travelled through the 13 districts in the belt, an area that covers almost 70 assembly constituencies, 85% of which were won by the BJP in 2017 comfortably. Read Full Story
How Congress Lost Bhatta-Parsaul in Jewar
Bhatta Parsaul, an area which came to the limelight after the anti-land acquisition movement in 2011 and led to Rahul Gandhi successfully taking up farmers’ cause at the national level, doesn’t have a credible Congress challenge anymore. After more than a decade, residents in these twin Uttar Pradesh villages – under Jewar Assembly constituency — feel they have been let down by the Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi. Most of them feel that the Gandhi scion has abandoned them to their fate and has refused to take up the farmers’ cause. Read Full Story
In Ghaziabad, a Battle between BJP and ex-BJP
The Ghaziabad assembly constituency, considered a safe seat for the Bharatiya Janata Party, will be an interesting contest as the fight here is between a minister in the Yogi Adityanath government, Atul Garg, and former BJP leader KK Shukla who recently joined the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). The BSP has played the Brahmin card here and the party hopes that its Dalit voters will also back its choice. The seat is being keenly watched as it is also being viewed as a contest between the dominant Baniya and the Brahmin communities. Read Full Story
Jewar Airport Could Be the Deciding Factor
After Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for Jewar International Airport last year, the BJP is touting the Jewar assembly constituency as its development model on ‘sabka saath, saath vikas’ plank this election. Though the opposition had tried to stoke a controversy in the past over land acquisition and is planning to revive it this election, the issue seems dead with the locals who have backed the BJP’s development agenda. Read Full Story
Polarisation Looms Large in Loni
Once considered a stronghold of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the real contest this time, people believe, is between BJP’s Nand Kishore Gurjar and RLD’s Madan Bhaiya. Having a significant Muslim population coupled with BJP MLA’s religious statements, RLD is trying to consolidate the minority votes in the constituency. However, Hindu votes should not consolidate. There are more than 1.60 lakh Muslim voters in the constituency. Read Full Story
Kithore’s Muslim Village Prefers Modi-Yogi over Akhilesh Yadav
Amid accusations by the Samajwadi Party and its ally Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) that the Bharatiya Janata Party polarises the state for electoral gains, a significant number of residents of Nangla Sahu village in Kithore assembly constituency are on a mission to ensure that at least half the village votes for the BJP. Villagers believe that Modi-Yogi has brought “peace” to their village, giving them “relief from SP leader and MLA Shahid Manzoor”. Read Full Story
Stray Cattle Bah’s Only Black Sheep
BJP MLA from Bah Pakshalika has a concern at hand — the stray cattle destroying the crop of farmers. One can spot cattle all over the roads in Bah, 50 km from Agra. In Bah, the main challenge to Pakshalika seems to be coming from a former loyalist of the family in BSP candidate Nitin Verma. The BSP had once won the seat in 2007. The seat has lot of Thakur and Brahmin voters who back the royal family. “I don’t take any challenger lightly. In our favour is the fact that historically, we are from here and our relationship with the people of Bah is not one of an MLA and a voter, but we are a family and for generations we have all been together,” she said. Read Full Story:
Aligarh Action: BJP Rookie Fights Off ‘Husband MLA’ Label
In Aligarh city, BJP candidate Mukta Raja, the housewife, is fighting her first-ever election and even calls herself “Mrs Mukta Sanjeev Raja” on posters. This is because she has emerged out of nowhere as the BJP candidate from this seat after her husband and sitting MLA Sanjeev Raja was convicted in a case with a two-year sentence and barred from contesting. She is facing veteran Samajwadi Party leader and former MLA Zafar Alam. Read Full Story:
The Man from Mant Who Can’t Be Defeated
Shyam Sunder Sharma, 72, says he cannot be defeated from Mant, a seat in Mathura district from where he has won eight times since 1989. He is now contesting for a record ninth win. What makes Sharma’s case special is that he may contest from different parties or even as Independent, but he still wins. He started off winning from Mant on a Congress ticket, won as Independent, won as a Trinamool Congress MLA and won last in 2017 as a BSP MLA by 432 votes. The BJP won all the Mathura district seats in 2017, except Mant. The Samajwadi Party has put up Akhilesh Yadav’s close aide Sanjay Lathar from Mant to stop Sharma’s victory march. Read Full Story
Atrauli: Will Sandeep Singh Live Up to Father Kalyan Singh’s Legacy?
Locals in Atrauli say Sandeep Singh is young and not very connected with the people on the ground but may still win given his family legacy. “He hardly touches anyone’s feet. Viresh Yadav is a much more popular leader who is very humble,” residents of Samaspur said. Posters of BJP leaders put up in this Muslim-dominated village stood defaced. But Sandeep visited houses of a few Muslim residents to a warm welcome. Without Kalyan Singh’s shadow, Sandeep seems in for a tough fight. Read more: https://www.news18.com/news/politics/up-polls-ground-report-big-debate-in-kalyan-singhs-backyard-why-didnt-akhilesh-come-to-pay-last-respects-4702565.html
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