With 57 assembly constituencies in 10 districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh voting on Thursday, the fate of 676 candidates, including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who is contesting from his home constituency Gorakhpur, will be sealed as elections enter the final phase.
Gorakhpur Sadar seat has been a BJP stronghold for nearly 31 years and Yogi Adityanath, who has been MP from Gorakhpur many times, will contest his first assembly election from there. In the 2017 election, he entered the state assembly through the Legislative Council.
Besides CM Adityanath, other BJP contestants in the fray are agriculture minister Surya Pratap Shahi (Pathardeva), education minister Satish Chandra Dwivedi (Itwa), health minister Jai Pratap Singh (Bansi), state ministers Shree Ram Chauhan (Khajani) and Jai Prakash Nishad (Rudrapur).
In the 2017 elections, the BJP had won 47 out of the total 61 seats. Whereas Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party could get only two and five seats. Congress, Apna Dal and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) won one seat each. Mayawati’s BSP was also a major rival of BJP in Balrampur, Siddharth Nagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar and Gorakhpur districts.
A total of 2,14,62,816 voters, including 1,14,63,113 males, 99,98,383 females and 1,320 third genders are going to vote in 10 districts — Ambedkar Nagar, Gorakhpur, Balrampur, Siddharthnagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Maharajganj , Kushinagar, Deoria and Ballia – from 7 am till 6 pm.
The seats, which are going to polls are Katehari, Tanda Atapur (SC), Jalalpur, Albarpur, Tulsibur, Gainsari, Utrauta, Balrampur (SC), Shohratparti, Kapilvastu (SC), Bansi ftwa Domariyagan, Harraiya, Kapitangani Rathalai, Busti Sadar Mahadewa (SC) Mendawal Khalilabad Dhanghata (SC), Pharenda Nautanwa, Siswa Maha (SC), Patryra Caimplyarganj, Potaich, Gorakhpa Urban Corakhpur Rizal, Sahajawa, Khajani (SC), Chauri Chaura, Bansgaon (SC), Chillupar, Khadda, Padrauma, Tamadi Raj, Enzillagot Kushinagar, Hata, Ramkisla (5C), Rudrapur, Pathardeva, Hampu Kafkhana, Bhatpar Rani Salempur (SC), Bathal, Belthara Road Rasta, Skandarpu, Phepitina, Ballia Nagar, Bandin and Bairya.
The maximum number of candidates are in Tulsipur, Gorakhpur Rural and Padrauna and the least are in Salempur.
Other Major Competitors
Subhavati Shukla of Samajwadi Party is against Yogi Adityanath, wife of Late Upendra Dutt Shukla, former Vice President of BJP. Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad is also the candidate of Azad Samaj Party from there. BSP’s Khwaja Shamsuddin and Congress’s Chetna Pandey are the other candidates from this seat.
State Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu is contesting from Tamkuhi Raj constituency in Kushinagar district, while Swami Prasad Maurya, who jumped from BJP to SP a few weeks before the elections, is contesting from Fazilnagar in Kushinagar. Leader of the Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly and senior Samajwadi Party leader Ram Govind Choudhary is in the fray from Bansdih in Ballia district.
criminal cases against candidates
According to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), 23% of the 670 candidates contesting in the sixth phase have serious criminal cases like rape and murder.
Around 29 of the Samajwadi Party, 20 each of the BJP and Congress, 18 of the BSP and five of the AAP have declared serious criminal cases against them.
Also, 37 out of 57 constituencies are red alert constituencies in which three or more candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves. According to the report, two candidates face rape charges, eight are involved in murder cases and 23 are charged with attempt to murder.
Out of 670 candidates, 253 (38%) are crorepatis. The average assets of each candidate in Phase 6 is Rs 2.10 crore.
The report further said that the role of money power in elections is evident from the fact that all major political parties have given tickets to wealthy candidates.
read all breaking news, today’s fresh news And Assembly Election Live Updates Here.