LUCKNOW: As nine districts of Avadh region, Terai and Bundelkhand go to the poll in the fourth phase on Wednesday, both BJP and Congress would face the challenge of saving their citadels -- Lucknow and Rae Bareli.
Uttar Pradesh election 2022 phase 4 live updates
The phase will also put to test the impact of farmers' unrest in Lakhimpur Kheri after October violence and of government schemes and freebies, like free ration, distributed among the poor during the pandemic.
This cluster had turned out to be a goldmine for BJP in 2017 as it bagged 50 out of 59 seats. Samajwadi Party had won four and Bahujan Samaj Party and Congress two each. BJP's ally Apna Dal had won one seat. BJP had won all the four seats in Pilibhit, eight in Lakhimpur Kheri and four in Banda in 2017. It has also won eight of the nine seats in Lucknow, and five of six each in Fatehpur and Unnao.
Two UP cabinet ministers in fray from state capital
In Sitapur, BJP had bagged seven out of nine and three out of six in Rae Bareli. Lucknow has been a BJP fort since the start of the temple movement barring 2012 when SP won seven out nine seats of the district. In 2017, BJP struck back winning eight. Former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee represented Lucknow Lok Sabha seat five times between 1991 and 2004. Rae Bareli, represented by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, has been a party bastion since 50s when Feroz Gandhi won the Lok Sabha seat for the first time.
In 2017, it won just two out of six assembly seats of the district. Both the Congress MLAs, Aditi Singh and Rakesh Singh, however, moved to BJP and now contesting from their seats, Rae Bareli Sadar and Harchandpur.
Lucknow will have two cabinet ministers in fray, Brajesh Pathak from Lucknow Cantt and Ashutosh Tandon from Lucknow East. Former joint director of Enforcement Directorate, Rajeshwar Singh, has been leading a high-pitch campaign in Sarojininagar. In a bid to put up a stiff fight, SP has fielded former minister Abhishek Mishra against Rajeshwar besides pitting strong contenders like Ravidas Mehrotra from Lucknow Central. Congress has fielded Sadaf Jafar of anti-CAA stir fame from Lucknow West. Two more ministers are contesting in Fatehpur -BJP's Ranvendra Pradap Singh from Husainganj and Apna Dal (S) Jai Kumar Singh from Bindki.
Two place of which have been in news for wrong reasons in the past -Unnao and Lakhimpur Kheri -will also vote on Wednesday. In Unnao, BJP had won the Bangermau seat for the first time in 2017. Its MLA Kuldeep Sengar, however, was disqualified after being convicted in a rape case. It has fielded Shrikant Katiyar who had won the bypoll. In Purwa, BJP has fielded Anil Singh who was elected as MLA on BSP ticket last time. Similarly, voters in Lakhimpur Kheri which witnessed violent protests in October last year after four farmers were run over allegedly by the vehicle owned by Union MoS, home, Ajay Mishra Teni's son Ashish, will express their reaction to the incident. Ashish has recently given bail.
Mehmoodabad, one of the largest feudal estates of erstwhile Oudh, will also be in focus with six-time MLA Narendra Singh Verma in fray again to retain his seat, but is being challenged by Asha Maurya from BJP. As we shift to Hardoi, the focus shifts on the Agarwal family. Son of strongman Naresh Agarwal, Nitin rebelled against SP and joined BJP to contest the polls. Anil Verma (SP) and Shobhit Pathak (BSP) are fighting against him. Three-time ex-MLA Abdul Mannan will try to wrest Sandila. Mannan has gone back to BSP after quitting SP. BJP has fielded Alka Singh Arkavanshi, while SBSP has fielded Sunil Arkavanshia.
