Stage set for first phase of UP assembly polls

Stakes high for ruling BSP, Congress, SP and BJP

PTI | February 7, 2012



Polling for the first phase of the high voltage Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections for 55 seats in 10 districts would be held tomorrow that will decide the fate of two ministers, 31 MLAs and 15 former ministers.

More than 1.70 lakh electorate would seal the fate of 862 candidates in the polling to be held in Sitapur, Barabanki, Faizabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur, Gonda, Siddharth Nagar and Basti amidst tight security.

Stakes are high for ruling BSP, Congress, SP and the BJP in the no holds barred fight for the 403 assembly seats. Tomorrow's polling would decide the future of cabinet minister Lalji Verma, minister of state Sangram Singh Verma, 31 sitting MLAs, 15 former ministers and relatives of several MPs including Union steel minister Beni Prasad Verma.

It would be a litmus test for Congress leaders including Beni Prasad Verma and National Commission for Scheduled Caste Chairman PL Punia as both of them represent the areas going to the polls.

While Gonda MP Beni's prestige would be at stake not only in seven assembly constituencies of his parliamentary area but also in Barabanki with his son Rakesh Verma contesting from Dariyabad seat there.

Barabanki MP, PL Punia's Dalit card and influence in the area would also be under keen observation in six constituencies of his area 

Both Verma, known for his say in Kurmi vote bank and Punia, Dalit face of Congress would have the herculean task of ensuring maximum number of seats for the Congress, which had secured only three of the 55 seats in 2007 assembly polls.

For Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which had secured maximum of 30 seats out of 55 seats in the 2007 assembly polls, it would be a do or die situation as betterment of performance of rivals would botch political prospects of the party, which was mired in controversies due to corruption cases. 

 

Comments

 

Other News

Testing the teachers, moving the goalposts

A teacher was appointed in 1999, before the Right to Education (RTE) Act came into force, and appointed under the rules that existed at that time. She gave the necessary test, passed it, passed the interview, and was appointed. Over the next 26 years, she taught thousands of children, faced transfer orde

`Focus on infra, reforms, digital connectivity has created strong foundation for growth`

In a step towards the operationalisation of the Bharat Audyogik Vikas Yojana (BHAVYA), union minister of commerce & industry Piyush Goyal launched the BHAVYA Portal on Monday in New Delhi.   Addressing the gathering, Goyal said that the BHAVYA scheme will adopt a competit

Govt, RBI announce major reforms to attract FPI

The finance ministry on Friday announced a series of measures aimed at enhancing the ease of investment for individual Persons Resident Outside India (PROIs) and Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs), and to attract stable long-term foreign capital flows.   Building on the recent in

Lessons in climate adaption from world’s largest inhabited river island

Majuli Island, perched between the Brahmaputra River to the south and east, the Subansiri River to the west, and a branch of the Brahmaputra to the north, has been severely affected by recurrent flooding and intense riverbank erosion. Despite its global importance in acquiring UNESCO tentative status for

Careless whispers and the impossible trinity

Time can never mend, the careless whispers of …    As the RBI marches ahead, for the upcoming monetary policy meeting this June, whispers from the corridors echo around several policy options to defend the rupee – by deploying forex reserves, raising in

Bullet Train Project: Third mountain tunnel breakthrough achieved

A major engineering milestone has been achieved in the Mumbai–Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project with the successful breakthrough of the third mountain tunnel (MT-07) at Ambesari village in Dahanu Taluka of Palghar district, Maharashtra.   With this achievement, three mountain





Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter