Lucknow: As the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections is just days away, political parties have intensified their campaigns. In such a situation, the voting trends in 36 assembly seats in the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh are going to be a gamechanger in the government formation in the state.
Altogether, the 36 assembly seats in the Purvanchal region are Prime Minister Narendra Modi's bastion. They all fall in the five districts of Jaunpur, Gazipur, Chandauli, Mirzapur, and Bhadohi. Besides, the seats come under the Varanasi Parliamentary Constituency from where PM Modi won the MP seat twice.
The 36 assembly seats will go to the polls on February 10 in the first phase of the seven-phase polls in the state. The counting of polls is slated for March 10. Previous trends indicate that those political parties which won the majority of these 36 seats were able to form the government in Uttar Pradesh.
In 2007, the Mayawati government was constituted in Uttar Pradesh because the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) then secured 20 seats out of the 36. In 2012 assembly polls, the Samajwadi Party under the leadership of Mulayam Singh Yadav secured 21 of the 36 seats. The party eventually formed the government after securing a majority in the assembly elections.
In 2017, the BJP fought UP elections without any CM-face. Despite this, the saffron party came out victorious on 21 of the 36 seats in Purvanchal, and later Yogi Adityanath was named as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
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