New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh, the state that sends 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha, will see polling in seven phases and the voting will take place on April 11, 18, 23, 29. The exercise will continue in May through 6, 12, 19.
The numerically important BJP-ruled state — has given India the maximum number of Prime Ministers — will see Congress president Rahul Gandhi contesting from Amethi and Prime Minister Modi fighting it out in Varanasi.
Sonia Gandhi, putting rumours of retirement to rest, will be contesting from Rae Bareli.
In the 2014 polls, the BJP, riding on the Modi wave, swept the state — winning a handsome 71 seats. Its ally Apna Dal bagged bagged another two.
The BJP, however, suffered a setback when in the byelections that took place in Gorakhpur, Phulpur, Kairana and then Noorpur. They lost four seats. Rubbing salt to wounds was the loss in Gorakhpur — the seat of CM Yogi Adityanath. This enthused the opposition.
The state has seen a lot of political activity with the unlikely coming together of the SP and BSP for the polls. After being left out of the alliance, the Congress, a few days later, announced the entry of Priyanka Gandhi and made her the in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh.
As per new rules introduced by the Election Commission, candidates will have to give details of their properties abroad, besides those in the country in their poll affidavits.
"The I-T department will look into it and, if any, discrepancies are found then it will be uploaded on the Election Commission (EC) website and strict action will be initiated," CEC Sunil Arora said.
When asked about the EC's stand on inflammatory speeches, Arora said in his review meetings, he tried to find out the status of such cases lodged during previous elections. In all the 1,63,331 polling centres, VVPAT machines will be used this time, he said.
With the model code of conduct — a set of guidelines issued by the EC for the conduct of political parties and candidates when the electoral process is underway — coming into force, parties in power at the Centre and in states are barred from making any announcements that can impact poll outcome or disturb the level playing field.
List of phase-wise Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh:
Phase 1 (April 11) - Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddh Nagar
Phase 2 (April 18) - Nagina, Amroha, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Hathras, Mathura, Agra and Fatehpur Sikri
Phase 3 (April 23) - Moradabad, Rampur, Sambhal, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etah, Badaun, Aonla, Bareilly and Pilibhit
Phase 4 (April 29) - Shahjahanpur, Kheri, Hardoi, Misrikh, Unnao, Farrukhabad, Etawah, Kannauj, Kanpur, Akbarpur, Jalaun, Jhansi and Hamirpur
Phase 5 (May 6) - Dhaurahra, Sitapur, Mohanlalganj, Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Amethi, Banda, Fatehpur, Kaushambi, Barabanki, Faizabad, Bahraich, Kaiserganj and Gonda
Phase 6 (May 12) - Sultanpur, Pratapgarh, Phulpur, Allahabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Shrawasti, Domariyaganj, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Lalganj, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Machhlishahr and Bhadohi
Phase 7 (May 19) - Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushi Nagar, Deoria, Bansgaon, Ghosi, Salempur, Ballia, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Mirzapur and Robertsganj
Comments
0 comment