UP's eight crucial seats to watch out for in the first phase

Phase one of Lok Sabha elections for Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddha Nagar will start from May 11' 2019. Some of the main issues and problems of these areas are unemployment, migration, illiteracy, lack of payment to sugarcane farmers, communal tension and lack of law and order. According to Political Analyst Prof. Ravikant, issues relating to sugarcane farmers will be given more significance.

Lucknow:The phase one of Lok Sabha elections for eight seats in Western Uttar Pradesh will begin from May 11' 2019. These eight seats include: Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddha Nagar.

Nominees from all eight parliamentary seats have already been announced. Issues which are being given priorities by the political parties are communal tensions, migration and problems faced by sugarcane farmers.

According to Political Analyst Prof. Ravikant, issues relating to sugarcane farmers will be given utmost importance. The Dalit movement started by the Bhim Army is also expected to affect the Uttar Pradesh elections. Communal polarisation will be initiated but it will not be successful and topics of unemployment, farmers' payment and caste issues will persist.

Saharanpur

There are around 2,73,032 voters who are 18-19 years old and 2,71,565 voters who are aged above 80 years. In 2014, 74.26% of the Saharanpur's population came to cast their vote, where BJP's Raghav Lakhanpal defeated Congress MP Imran Masood; while in 2009, Jagdish Singh Rana won on BSP ticket.

Saharanpur Lok Sabha constituency comprises of Behat, Saharanpur Nagar, Saharanpur, Deoband and Rampur Maniharan. Some local issues are unemployment, payment to sugarcane farmers and migration.

Results of 2017 State assembly elections were as follows:
Naresh Saini (INC)- Behat
Sanjay Garg (SP)- Saharanpur Nagar
Masood Akhtar (INC)- Saharanpur
Brijesh Singh (BJP)- Deoband
Devendra Kumar Nim (BJP)- Rampur Maniharan

Kairana

In 2014, 73.10% of the Kairana's population came to cast their vote, where Hukum Singh, then in BJP party stood victorious against Nahid Hasan of Samajwadi party by 2,50,000 votes. In 2009, Begum Tabassum Hasan of BSP party came to power.

Kairana Lok Sabha constituency incorporates Nakur, Gangoh, Kairana, Thana Bhawan and Shamli. Some local issues are unemployment, illiteracy, lack of payment to sugarcane farmers and migration.

Results of 2017 State assembly elections were as follows:
Dr. Dharam Singh Saini (BJP)- Nakur
Pradeep Kumar (BJP)- Gangoh
Nahid Hasan (SP)- Kairana
Suresh Kumar (BJP)- Thana Bhawan
Tejendra Nirwal (BJP) - Shamli

Muzaffarnagar

In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, 69.74% of the Muzaffarnagar residents registered their votes. Here, BJP's Sanjeev Balyan triumphed against Kadir Rana of BSP party by 3 lakh votes. However, in 2009 election Kadir Rana won a victory. There are 5 assembly constituencies in Muzaffarnagar in which all seats were won by BJP in the 2017 UP Legislative Assembly election.

Budhana, Charthawal, Purqazi (SC), Muzaffarnagar, Khatauli and Meerapur are the assembly constituencies in Muzaffarnagar. The biggest problems in this area are unemployment and communal tension.

Results of 2017 State assembly elections were as follows:
Umesh Malik (BJP)- Budhana
Vijay Kumar Kashyap (BJP) -Charthawal
Pramod Utwal (BJP)- Purqazi
Kapil Dev Aggarwal (BJP) - Muzaffarnagar
Vikram Singh Saini (BJP) - Khatauli
Avtar Singh Bhadana (BJP) - Meerapur

Bijnor

In 2014 Lok Sabha election, 67.88% of the Bijnor's populace cast their votes. The results were in favour of Bharatendra Singh of BJP who defeated Sanjay Singh Chauhan of Rashtriya Lok Dal by 2.5 lakh votes; while in 2009, Sanjay Singh of Congress won the election.

Presently, Bijnor Lok Sabha constituency comprises of Bijnor, Chandpur, Hastinapur, Meerapur and Purqazi. Problems in this area are illiteracy, unemployment and lack of payment to sugarcane farmers.

Results of 2017 State assembly elections were as follows:
Suchi (BJP) - Bijnor
Kamlesh Saini (BJP) -Chandpur
Dinesh Khatik (BJP) -Hastinapur
Avtar Singh Bhadana (BJP) - Meerapur
Pramod Utwal (BJP)- Purqazi

Meerut

Voting percentage of the Meerut's population in 2014 election was 63.12%. Here, BJP's Rajendra Agrawal triumphed against Mohammad Shahid Akhlak of BSP party by 2,32,000 votes.

In 2009 election also, Rajendra Agrawal came out as the winner. Kithore, Meerut Cantonment, Meerut, Meerut South and Hapur are the five constituencies of Meerut. One major issue is the creation of jobs by increasing infrastructure facilities mainly by the introduction of sugar mills.

Results of 2017 State assembly elections were as follows -
Satyavir Tyagi (BJP) -Kithore
Satya Prakash Agarwal (BJP) - Meerut Cantonment
Rafiq Ansari (SP) -Meerut
Dr. Somendra Tomar (BJP) - Meerut South
Vijay Pal (BJP) - Hapur

Baghpat

Voting in Baghpat in 2014 Lok Sabha election turned out to be 66.75%. From here, BJP's candidate Satya Pal Singh won the election against SP's Ghulam Mohammed by 1,90,000 votes. Ajit Singh from Rashtriya Lok Dal party won in the 2009 Lok Sabha election.

After reorganisation constituencies of Bahgpat are Siwalkhas, Chhaprauli, Baraut, Baghpat and Modi Nagar. Some of the issues are problems faced by farmers, migration and lack of law and order.

Results of 2017 State assembly elections were as follows:
Jitendra Pal Singh Billu (BJP) -Siwalkhas
Sahender Singh Ramala (RLD) - Chhaprauli
Krishnapal Malik (BJP) - Baraut
Yogesh Dhama (BJP) - Baghpat
Dr. Manju Shivach (BJP) - Modi Nagar

Ghaziabad

Voting in Baghpat in 2014 Lok Sabha election turned out to be 56.95%. General Vijay Kumar Singh won the election on the BJP ticket and defeated Raj Babbar of Congress by 5,00,000 votes. BJP's Rajnath Singh won the election in the 9th Lok Sabha elections.
Ghaziabad's constituencies are Loni, Muradnagar, Sahibabad, Ghaziabad and Dholana. Factories in the NCR region have caused problems while another issue is related to law and order on the streets of Ghaziabad.

Results of 2017 State assembly elections were as follows:
Nandkishor Gurjar (BJP) - Loni
Ajit Pal Tyagi (BJP) - Muradnagar
Sunil Kumar Sharma (BJP) - Sahibabad
Atul Garg (BJP) - Ghaziabad
Aaslam Choudhary (BSP) - Dholana

Gautam Buddha Nagar

Voting percentage of the Meerut's population in 2014 election was 60.39%. Dr. Mahesh Sharma won the election on BJP ticket and defeated Narendra Bhati of Samajwadi Party by 4,80,000 votes.

In 2009, Surendra Singh of SP party won the election. There are 5 assembly constituencies in the city, in which the Bharatiya Janata Party won all the seats in the 2017 Assembly elections. These constituencies are Noida, Dadri, Jewar, Sikandrabad and Khurja.

Results of 2017 State assembly elections were as follows:
Pankaj Singh (BJP) - Noida
Tejpal Singh Gurjar (BJP) - Dadri
Dhirendra Singh(BJP) -Jewar
Bimal Singh Solanki( BJP) - Sikandrabad
Vijendra Singh (BJP) - Khurja