Lok Sabha sixth phase clincher for Akhilesh Yadav and Maneka Gandhi

LUCKNOW: As votes will be cast in 14

Lok Sabha

seats of Purvanchal region in the state in the

sixth phase

of polling on Sunday, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and Union minister Maneka Gandhi are the prominent contestants whose electoral fate will be decided by voters.


In 2014, BJP had won 13 of the 14 seats with SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav winning Azamgarh.

The penultimate phase gains importance as it will be a test for the Dalit-OBC-Muslim vote consolidation anticipated by the Opposition alliance in east UP which had witnessed a BJP sweep in 2014 Lok Sabha and 2017 UP assembly elections.

Riding on the pre-poll alliance with BSP, SP chief Akhilesh is in the fray from Azamgarh, and is pitted against popular Bhojpuri actor-singer Dinesh Lal Yadav ‘Nirahua’ of BJP. Congress has not fielded its candidate from Azamgarh turning the electoral fight as a direct contest between SP and BJP though Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) of Om Prakash Rajbhar has fielded Abhimanyu Singh Sunny.

In Sultanpur, BJP’s Maneka Gandhi is contesting against Sanjay Sinh of Congress and Chandra Bhadra Singh of BSP.

A keen contest is also likely in Phulpur where BJP has fielded Keshari Devi Patel while Congress has given ticket to Pankaj Patel, both eyeing the Kurmi voters, who are in significant numbers in the constituency. SP has fielded Pandhari Yadav.

Phulpur is also crucial for BJP since it lost the seat in the byelection after Keshav Prasad Maurya vacated the seat and became deputy chief minister in UP.

In neighbouring Allahabad, BJP has fielded UP minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi, a Brahmin, against Rajendra Patel of SP, while Congress has given ticket to Yogesh Shukla, a Brahmin. Joshi has a connect with Allahabad since she has been its mayor.

In Pratapgarh, BJP has fielded Sangam Lal Gupta, MLA of ally Apna Dal (Sone Lal) against Rajkumari Ratna Singh of Congress and Ashok Tripathi of BSP.

In Ambedkarnagar, which was once known as caste laboratory of BSP founder Kanshiram, BJP has fielded UP minister Mukut Behari Verma, a Kurmi, against BSP’s Brahmin candidate, Ritesh Pandey, the local MLA. Since Congress is not contesting the seat, its a direct contest between BJP and SP-BSP combine. The constituency has 3.5 lakh Kurmi, 1.5 lakh Rajbhar and 1.5 lakh Brahmin voters. BSP had won three out of five assembly segments in Ambedkarnagar in 2017 UP elections.

In Sant Kabir Nagar, BJP’s Praveen Kumar Nishad will take on BSP’s Kushal Tewari and Bhal Chandra Yadav of Congress.