New Delhi, February 18
Campaigning for 59 seats in Phase-3 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, considered the “home turf” of the BJP’s main rival Samajwadi Party, ended on Friday.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav is contesting against Union Minister SPS Baghel from Karhal in Mainpuri. Baghel was recently provided ‘Z’ category security after his convoy was allegedly attacked in Mainpuri district by “SP goons”, according to the BJP.
The SP had managed to retain Karhal even in the 2017 Assembly elections when a BJP wave swept through UP.
The BJP has fielded Union Minister Baghel, a prominent OBC face, in what is being pitched as one of the major battles in these elections.
While Baghel said that the attack has strengthened him and his party’s resolve “to not allow Akhilesh a cakewalk in Karhal”, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today claimed the SP chief “will lose his deposit in Karhal.
“The Samajwadi Party candidate will lose his deposits in Karhal and Mainpuri in this election. The BJP has already won this fight, since the commander of the SP himself is going out of the contest,” Adityanath said ahead of the polling for the 3rd phase which is crucial for the BJP seeking to retain as many as 49 seats it won in 2017.
After the first two phases in Western UP, both sides have claimed that the other will be “wiped out” from the state.
The third phase includes five districts from Western UP (Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etah, Kasganj and Hathras), six from the Awadh region and five in Bundelkhand region. While the BJP is claiming major development in this region, the SP is claiming otherwise.
The region was once a stronghold of the Samajwadi Party 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.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections Akhilesh’s wife and sitting MP Dimple Yadav lost Kannauj to the BJP, even though the SP was in alliance with the BSP.
Now that Akhilesh has mended fences with Shivpal and is contesting from Karhal to re-establish the relations with the region, it remains to be seen how it reacts on Sunday.
The 3rd phase includes Hathras where a gang-rape 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’. It also includes Kasganj, where custodial death of a person called Altaf, and Kannuaj, where raids allegedly conducted on a perfume trader “affiliated to the BJP” cause major embarrassment for the Adityanath Government.
The 3rd phase polling also includes Kanpur where the “murder” of city businessman Manish Gupta during a police raid in Gorakhpur last year is being raised in every Opposition meeting.
