Lucknow: Voting for the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh covering 13 parliamentary constituencies will take place on Monday, with all eyes on the prestigious Kannauj seat from where SP president Akhilesh Yadav is seeking a re-election. Another prominent candidate in the fray in this round is Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra Teni, who is contesting from Kheri.
Voting will take place in Shahjahanpur (SC), Kheri, Dhaurahra, Sitapur, Hardoi (SC), Misrikh (SC), Unnao, Farrukhabad, Etawah (SC), Kannauj, Kanpur, Akbarpur and Bahraich (SC). A total of 130 candidates are in the poll fray in this phase. Among the 13 poll-bound constituencies, Kannauj will see a contest between the SP chief and sitting BJP MP Subrat Pathak, while in Unnao, incumbent BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj (Swami Sachidanand Hari Sakshi) is pitted against SP's Annu Tandon (a former Lok Sabha MP from Unnao).
Tandon had contested against Sakshi Maharaj as a Congress candidate in 2014 and 2019, but had lost on both occasions. She had won the Unnao Lok Sabha seat in 2009 on a Congress ticket. Of the 13 parliamentary constituencies going to polls in the fourth phase, the BJP has reposed its faith in 11 sitting MPs by giving them tickets, while it has fielded new candidates Ramesh Awasthi from Kanpur and Anand Kumar from the Bahraich-SC seat.
In the INDIA bloc, the SP has fielded candidates from 11 Lok Sabha seats in this phase, while on two seats -- Kanpur (Alok Misra) and Sitapur (Rakesh Rathor) -- candidates of the Congress are in the fray. Four BJP candidates --- Union minister Teni (Kheri), Rekha Verma (Dhaurahra), Mukesh Rajput (Farrukhabad) and Devendra Singh alias Bhole (Akbarpur) -- are eyeing a hat trick, while Rajesh Verma is eyeing a fifth term from Sitapur.
Ashok Kumar Rawat and Ram Shankar Katheria are eyeing a fourth term from Misrikh (SC) and Etawah (SC) respectively. Sitting MP from Hardoi (SC) Jai Prakash and incumbent from Unnao Sakshi Maharaj are eyeing a sixth term in the Lok Sabha. Over 2.46 crore voters will be eligible to exercise their voting rights in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha polls in the state.
Like other poll phases, campaigning for the fourth phase witnessed attacks and counter-attacks by leaders of various political parties against each other. Slamming the Congress and INDIA bloc, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Dhaurahra on May 5 had said that Muslims now understand that the Congress and INDIA bloc are using them as pawns, asserting that the community is distancing itself from them after seeing the development carried out by the BJP.
On the same day, Modi had lashed out at the "dynastic politics" of the SP and the Congress during a rally in Etawah, saying while the opposition alliance partners work only to benefit their own families, he is building a better future for the nation's next generations. Referring to himself and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, he had said, "We don't have children. We are working for your children."
On Friday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said an INDIA bloc storm is arriving in Uttar Pradesh, and asserted that Modi will not make it to the post of prime minister this time. Gandhi and Yadav addressed joint rallies in Kannauj and Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, where the two parties are contesting as allies. Under their seat-sharing agreement, the Congress is fighting on 17 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
In his Kanpur address, Gandhi claimed the Congress will win at least 50 seats in UP. The SP chief on Saturday had termed the ongoing Lok Sabha elections as a "national movement" for the cause of the Constitution and to protect reservations as he called upon his party members to join it to change the fate of the country.
Bypolls will also be held to Dadraul assembly constituency in Shahjahanpur district. The assembly seat of Dadraul fell vacant following the death of BJP MLA Manvendra Singh on January 5 due to prolonged illness. There are 10 candidates in the poll fray for the Dadraul assembly by-election.
