LUCKNOW: The battle for Uttar Pradesh will begin on Thursday (February 10, 2022) with polling scheduled to take place in 58 assembly seats spread across 11 districts in the western part of the state. The polling will start at 7 am in these constituencies according to the guidelines of the Election Commission to ensure Covid-safe polls. The voting will end at 6 pm.
Key ministers whose fate will be decided on Feb 10
Key ministers whose fate will be decided in the first phase include Shrikant Sharma, Suresh Rana, Sandeep Singh, Kapil Dev Agarwal, Atul Garg and Chowdhury Lakshmi Narain.
Key districts where polling will be held on Feb 10
The districts where the elections will be held on Feb 10 are - Shamli, Hapur, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Mathura and Agra.
The canvassing for the first phase remained confined to the virtual medium due to a ban on road shows and physical rallies in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
The first phase will cover the Jat-dominated belt of western UP from where farmers had participated actively in the stir against the Centre's three agri laws in the national capital.
As many as 623 candidates are in the fray in the first phase and around 2.27 crore people are eligible to vote in this phase.
In 2017, the BJP bagged 53 of the 58 seats, while the Samajwadi Party and the BSP had got two seats each. One seat had gone to the Rashtriya Lok Dal.
Key seats to watch out for
Kairana
Kairana has been at the forefront of the political tussle and has emerged as a crucial poll issue. The issue of the mass exodus from the region was raised by the BJP towards the Samajwadi Party.
The Akhilesh Yadav-led SP has come under fire for renominating Nahid Hasan despite him facing multiple criminal cases relating to fraud and extortion.
On January 15, Hasan was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police in a case registered under the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act and remanded to judicial custody by the MP/MLA court.
Candidates in fray
BJP: Mriganka Singh
SP: Nahid Hasan
BSP: Rajendra Singh Upadhyaya
Congress: Haji Akhlaq
Muzaffarnagar
BJP and other opposition parties raked up the Muzaffarnagar riots issue during campaigning. This constituency has become a test case to determine whether farmers are willing to trust the SP-RLD combine despite the anger against the farm laws.
Candidates in fray
BJP: Kapil Dev Aggarwal
RLD: Saurabh Swarup Bansal
BSP: Pushpankar Pal
Congress: Subodh Sharma
Thana Bhawan
Thana Bhawan constituency is home to UP Cane Development Minister and two-time MLA Suresh Rana. The local community's biggest complaint is that he hasn't done enough to help the sugarcane farmers in the area.
Despite government charges, farmers claim that their local BJP MLA and Minister Rana could have done more to collect them dues from mills like the Bajaj sugar mill in Thana Bhawan, which is one of the largest in West UP and a key source of sugarcane sales in Shamli.
Candidates in fray
BJP: Suresh Rana
RLD: Ashraf Ali
BSP: Jaheer Malik
Congress: Satya Sayyam Saini
Sardhana
BJP gave a ticket to Muzaffarnagar riots accused Sangeet Som. He was arrested on September 20, 2013, for allegedly uploading a fake video that played a role in triggering communal tensions. This is being looked at as an interesting contest owing to the impact of the farmers' unrest and the perception of anti-incumbency.
Candidates in fray
BJP: Sangeet Som
SP: Atul Pradhan
BSP: Sanjeev Dhama
Congress: Syed Rianuddin
Mathura
Shrikant Sharma is BJP’s candidate and the power minister. In opposition, Samajwadi Party has fielded Devendra Agarwal & Pradeep Mathur of Congress are contesting the assembly seat. This seat has mostly been held by either BJP or congress.
Candidates in fray
BJP: Shrikant Sharma
SP: Devendra Agarwal
BSP: Satish Sharma
Congress: Pradeep Mathur
Agra Rural
BJP fielding ex-Uttarakhand Governor Babi Rani Maurya from here. Having served as the Mayor of Agra from 1995 to 2000, Baby Rani Maurya narrowly lost to her BSP opponent from the Etmadpur seat in the 2007 Assembly polls.
On August 26, 2018, she took oath as the Uttarakhand Governor becoming the second woman Governor of the state after Margaret Alva. Maurya stepped down from her post on September 8, 2021, and was appointed as the BJP vice president by party president JP Nadda 12 days later.
Candidates in fray
BJP: Baby Rani Maurya
RLD: Mahesh Kumar Jatav
BSP: Kiran Prabha Kesari
Congress: Upendra Singh
Noida
Noida is perceived as a prestigious seat for BJP as Defence Minister and former UP CM Rajnath Singh's son Pankaj Singh is seeking re-election from here.
Candidates in fray
BJP: Pankaj Singh
SP: Sunil Choudhary
BSP: Kirpa Ram Sharma
Congress: Pankhuri Pathak
Baghpat
Yogesh Dhama is the sitting BJP MLA and faces competition against Ahmad Hameed from the alliance of SP-RLD & Anil Dev Tyagi from Congress. The seat was in the spotlight after a fake Twitter post by Jayant Chaudhary went viral against Hameed.
Candidates in fray
BJP: Yogesh Dhama
RLD: Ahmed Hameed
BSP: Arun Kasana
Congress: Anil Dev Tyagi
