Lucknow, Feb 25 : Campaigning for 61 seats spread over 12 districts in the fifth phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections ended on Friday. Polling for 61 seats in this phase will be held on Sunday. The districts which will go to poll include Amethi, Rae Bareli, Sultanpur, Chitrakoot, Pratapgarh, Kaushambi, Prayagraj, Barabanki, Ayodhya, Bahraich, Shravasti and Gonda. Total 623 candidates are in the fray in this phase. According to the data provided by the Chief Electoral Officer’s office maximum 25 candidates are in fray for Pratappur seat, whereas minimum 7 candidates are contesting on Milkipur, Payagpur, Barabanki, Jaidpur, Haidergarh and Kadipur. Ruling BJP which faced a tough challenge from Samajwadi Party (SP) in the previous phases, hopes to get an edge over its opponents in Awadh and Purvanchal regions of the state. To maintain its dominance in the next three phases of UP polls, BJP has campaigned extensively in this phase. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Minister Smriti Irani, BJP president JP Nadda and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath have held several rallies in support of the BJP candidates as well as those of allies Apna Dal (Sonelal) and Nishad Party. Even on the last day of campaigning Home Minister Amit Shah addressed rallies in Prayagraj, Kaushambi and Ambedkar Nagar, whereas CM Yogi campaigned in Sultanpur, Chitrakoot and Prayagraj. This phase is a litmus test for Congress and will decide how much charisma of Priyanka Gandhi has worked in favour in this phase as polling will also be held in Amethi and Rae Bareli districts, considered to be the party’s bastion till 2017. According to a political analyst Congress is making all out efforts to regain it’s bastion this is the reason not only Priyanka campaigned extensively in two districts, but even Rahul Gandhi joined her on the last day of the campaigning and recounted his decades old relationship with Amethi. Likewise, it will also be a test for Union Minister Smriti Irani, who defeated Rahul Gandhi from Amethi in 2019, who is trying to maintain BJP’s dominance in these two districts. Prestige of six ministers in Yogi government including Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya is at stake. Maurya is contesting from Sirathu seat in Kaushambi district and SP has pitched Pallavi Patel against him. Pallavi is the estranged sister of Union Minister Anupriya Patel, an ally of BJP. Other than Maurya, cabinet minister Rajendra Pratap Singh is contesting from Patti seat in Pratapgarh district. Cabinet minister and grandson of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, Siddharth Nath Singh is contesting from Allahabad West. Civil Aviation Minister Nand Gopal ‘Nandi’ is also contesting from Allahabad South Seat. Social Welfare Minister Ramapati Shastri is contesting from Mankapur seat and Minister of State Chandrika Prasad Upadhyaya from Chitrakoot Sadar. Members of royal families are also trying their luck in this phase. Former minister and MP Sanjay Singh is contesting from Amethi seat. It may be noted that once considered close to Sanjay Gandhi and former PM Rajiv Gandhi, he left Congress in 2019 and joined BJP. Several times MLA and Kunwar of erstwhile Kunda estate Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya is in the fray from his traditional seat Kunda in Pratapgarh district. Among other prominent candidates Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) president and mother of Union Minister Anurpriya Patel’s mother Krishna Patel is contesting from Pratapgarh Sadar seat. Daughter of senior Congress leader Pramod Tiwari and two time MLA from Rampur Khaas Aradhana Mishra ‘Mona’ is trying luck from her traditional seat. It may be noted that out of 61 seats in this phase, BJP won 51, its ally Apna Dal 2, SP 5, Congress 1 and two seats went to the independents. For BJP’s biggest challenge is to retain its fort in this phase as well. “The party is contesting this poll on the plank of good governance and development, but the problem of stray animals and unemployment coupled with inflation are posing a challenge before BJP. SP is trying to take advantage of both the issues therefore it’s president Akhilesh Yadav is raising these two in every rally and public meetings,” a political analyst said. He said that BSP should not be underestimated in this round as backward and most backward castes are deciding factors on a number of seats. “BSP may have not performed well in the last elections, but it has it’s base in this phase,” he said. AB SHK1941
