The second phase of elections have kicked off in Uttar Pradesh, with 55 seats going to polls. Of these, the BJP had won 38 in 2017, while the Samajwadi Party had bagged 15 and the Congress two. The SP and the Congress had contested the last Assembly election in an alliance. The areas going to the polls in this phase have a sizeable Muslim population influenced by religious leaders of the Barelvi and Deoband sects and are considered to be the strongholds of the Samajwadi Party. LIVE UPDATES
The prominent faces in the fray in this phase include Dharam Singh Saini, a BJP state minister who had switched to the SP. SP’s Azam Khan has been fielded from his stronghold Rampur seat, while Saini is trying his luck from the Nakud Assembly segment. Khan is a member of Lok Sabha from Rampur. Khan’s son Abdullah Azam has been fielded from the Suar seat. He has been pitted against Haider Ali Khan, the heir of another political family, the Nawabs of Rampur, who is trying his luck on the ticket of Apna Dal (Sonelal), a BJP ally. Outgoing Minister of State for Jal Shakti Baldev Singh Aulakh is the candidate from Bilaspur, Minister of State for Urban Development Mahesh Chandra Gupta from Badaun, and Minister of State for Secondary Education Gulab Devi from Chandausi.
Here’s a lowdown on the interesting battles of Phase-2:
Rampur
Azam Khan, an SP veteran, takes on his ‘nemesis’ Akash Saxena (BJP). Saxena filed 30 of the 100-odd police cases of land grabbing against Azam, resulting in his arrest. Azam, the Rampur MP, is requesting a record 10th term in prison. Nawab Kazim Ali of the Congress Party, the scion of the local royal family, and a four-time MLA from two adjacent seats make it a three-way race. While the Rampur royalty and Azam have a history of feuding, Akash, the son of former minister Shiv Bahadur, fought the SP veteran for a long time.
Chandausi
Gulab Devi, State Minister for Secondary Education, has been nominated for the Chandausi seat by the BJP. She has served in the legislature four times. She is running against Akhilesh Yadav’s party’s Vimlesh Kumari, who finished second as the Congress candidate last time. This time, the Congress has fielded Mithilesh Kumari from the seat, while the BSP will be represented by Ran Vijay Singh.
Suar
With the clash of Azam Khan and Kazim Ali’s sons, the Battle of Rampur spreads into neighbouring Suar. Azam’s son Abdullah, who won the seat in 2017 but was later disqualified for using a forged birth certificate, is up against Kazim’s son Haider Ali Khan, an England-educated young man who turned down the Congress ticket to become the candidate of NDA partner Apna Dal (S), according to a report by the Times of India. As a result, he is the BJP’s and its allies’ first Muslim candidate since 2014. Abdullah had defeated Haider’s father, who had pursued the ‘fake certificate’ case against him, in 2017. As a result, it’s a grudge match for both.
Badaun
State Minister Mahesh Chandra Gupta has been nominated by the BJP for the Badaun seat. The Samajwadi Party dumped its most powerful Muslim figure in the district, Abid Raza (who represented the seat from 2012 to 2017), in order to make way for Rais Ahmed, a Mumbai-based real-estate magnate. Rajesh Kumar Singh of the BSP and Rajni Singh of the Congress are the other candidates in the race.
Nakur
Two turncoats are at odds in this electoral battle. Dharam Singh Saini, a two-time MP and former minister, switched to the SP just before the elections. Mukesh Chaudhary of the BJP was a member of the Congress until 2019, when he defected to the BJP. Saini, on the other hand, has his arch-rival Imran Masood on his side. Masood, a former Congress leader, was defeated by Saini in two elections and switched to the SP. Despite the fact that he did not receive a ticket, he has vowed SP’s victory. Sahil Khan of the BSP is hoping to make inroads into the SP’s Muslim vote bank. Sonu Kumar has been nominated by Chandra Shekhar’s Azad Samaj Party, which has a presence in the district.
Shahjahanpur
Suresh Khanna, the finance minister of Uttar Pradesh, is vying for a record ninth victory in this seat, which he has held since 1989. Tanveer Khan, SP’s district president, who ran a close race against Khanna in the previous two elections, is back to challenge him, relying on Muslim voters, the report states. The BSP has played the Brahmin card by fielding Dhandhu Mishra, while the Congress has surprised everyone by fielding ASHA worker Poonam Pandey. She took centre stage after being heckled by cops while attempting to barge into the UP CM’s rally site.
Bilaspur
Following a year-long farm protest, Yogi cabinet’s sole Sikh minister and sitting MLA Baldev Singh Aulakh faces an uphill battle in winning over voters, particularly Sikhs, who are in large numbers here. His opponent is Congress veteran Sanjay Kapoor, who previously held the seat in 2012 and 2007. Because of the large number of families who have moved from Punjab to settle in this constituency of Rampur district, this is one of the few seats where the impact of farm protests could be felt. Amarjeet Singh is the SP candidate, while Ram Avatar Kashyap is the BSP candidate.
Behat
Prior to the 2008 delimitation, UP’s Constituency No. 1 was known as Muzaffarabad. MLA Naresh Saini, one of seven Congress candidates elected in 2017, is now a BJP candidate. In fact, the Saharanpur district, which includes this seat, saw a frenzied churning of candidates in the run-up to the polls. Omar Ali of the SP and Rais Malik of the BSP would be competing for the support of the constituency’s large Muslim electorate, which could benefit Saini. The presence of Dalits, particularly Jatavs, is also expected to benefit the BSP. Poonam Kamboj has been nominated by the Congress Party.
Chandausi (R)
Gulab Devi, a junior minister from Uttar Pradesh, had to compete with other aspirants from her own party after her candidacy for the Sambhal reserved seat was announced. She is a four-time MLA, having been elected for the first time in 1991. After 2002, she suffered two defeats before regaining the title in 2017. Vimlesh Kumari, the Congress’s previous runner-up, is now the SP’s candidate. SP helped her the last time. The Congress has also fielded a woman, Mithilesh Kumari, while the BSP has fielded Ran Vijay Singh. The BJP candidate is also up against the seat’s history of shifting winning parties.
Aonla
Former minister Dharampal Singh is running for a fifth term from this Bareilly district seat. He was appointed irrigation minister in the Yogi government in 2017, but resigned before the end of the term. He is up against a former ‘colleague,’ Radha Krishna Sharma, a BJP MLA from neighbouring Bilsi who has switched to SP. Sharma is a two-term MLA. Known for Iffco’s fertiliser unit and considered a saffron bastion, the BJP has only lost two elections in the last 36 years. Because Lodhs are the most dominant caste here, the BSP has fielded Laxman Prasad Lodhi and the Congress has fielded Omvir Yadav.
Amroha
Mehboob Ali, a former cabinet minister, has been in office since 2002 and is running for a fifth term. In 2017, he won by more than 15,000 votes, despite the fact that the BJP won the remaining three seats in Amroha district. This time, he was benefitted when Congress nominee Salim Khan joined SP just two days before the election, claiming that he was not allowed to meet Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, according to the report. In light of the large number of minority votes, the BSP has also fielded a Muslim candidate, Naved Ayaz. The BJP has fielded Ram Singh Saini, who last won in 1991.
Tilhar
It’s another battle of turncoats in here. BJP’s Roshan Lal Verma who defeated Congress’s Jitin Prasada in 2017, is now SP’s candidate, having made the high-profile crossover with Swami Prasad Maurya and others. He won the seat as a BSP candidate in 2012. Verma is up against the BJP’s Saloni Kushwaha, an SP worker who switched parties quickly after her ticket was taken by a snitch. While she is expected to benefit from her doctor husband’s goodwill, BSP candidate Faizan Ali may make a dent in the SP’s Muslim votebank.
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