Big guns Yogi, Maurya in fray in sixth phase of UP Assembly elections

Hyderabad: The fate of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will be at stake in the sixth phase of the Uttar Assembly elections which will be held on Thursday. Contrary to speculations that he might contest from the Ayodhya constituency, BJP finally fielded him from the Gorakhpur Sadar seat. This will be the first Assembly election for Adityanath, a five-time MP. He did not contest the Assembly elections in 2017 and became a member of the Legislative Council. Adityanath has been pitted against the Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate, the wife of late Upendra Dutt Shukla, a former BJP leader.

A total of 676 candidates including the Chief Minister will be in the fray. About 2.14 crore voters in 57 Assembly seats across 10 districts will vote in the sixth phase of the polls. The constituencies are located in the districts of Gorakhpur, Ambedkarnagar, Ballia, Balrampur, Basti, Deoria, Kushinagar, Maharajganj, Sant Kabir Nagar, and Siddharthnagar. Voting will start at 7 am and end at 6 pm on Thursday.

Apart from the Chief Minister, Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi will contest from Pathardeva seat, Education Minister Satish Chandra Dwivedi from Itwa constituency, and Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh has been fielded from the Bansi seat. Ministers Ram Chauhan will contest from Khajani seat, another minister Jai Prakash Nishad will be in the fray from the Rudrapur constituency.

BJP turncoat Swami Prasad Maurya is also in the fray. Maurya, who recently joined the Samajwadi Party (SP) will be contesting from the Fazilnagar constituency in Kushinagar district. Senior SP leader and Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly Ram Govind Chaudhar has been fielded from the Bansdih seat in Ballia district. As for Congress, State unit president Ajay Kumar Lallu is in the fray from Tamkuhi Raj seat in Kushinagar district.

According to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) 23 per cent (151) out of the 670 candidates have declared serious criminal cases against them such as murder and rape.

While 39 per cent of BJP candidates in the sixth phase have declared serious criminal cases against them, the figure stands at 60 per cent for SP. As for Congress, 36 percent of the candidates have declared serious criminal cases against them and 32 percent of BSP candidates have serious criminal cases against them. 10 per cent of Aam Admi Party candidates have declared serious criminal cases against them.

Out of the 57 constituencies going to polls in the sixth phase, 65 per cent (37) have been declared as Red Alert constituencies.

BJP won 46 out of the 57 poll-bound constituencies in the 2017 Assembly in the 2017 Assembly elections. Apna Dal won one seat. While the SP bagged two seats, the BSP won five seats. Congress and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party won one seat each.