UP poll dates announced, Yogi projects victory for ‘double-engine' govt; Akhilesh predicts change
As the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday announced election schedule for the five poll-bound states, including Uttar Pradesh, chief minister Yogi Adityanath, and his predecessor, Akhilesh Yadav, both took to Twitter to project victory for their respective parties.
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“We welcome the announcement of dates for this festival of democracy. The double-engine government of the BJP, on the basis of its achievements, will be successful in forming a majority government with the blessings of the people," tweeted Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Adityanath, who is also the party's CM candidate for the upcoming polls.
Meanwhile, Yadav, who heads the opposition Samajwadi Party (SP), tweeted a couplet: “There will be a revolution on March 10, Uttar Pradesh will see a change.”
Assembly elections in the state, which has 403 assembly constituencies, will take place in seven phases, the poll body announced. The first phase voting will take place on February 10, with the next six rounds scheduled for February 14, 20, 23, 27, March 3 and 7 respectively. The counting of votes will take place on March 10, three days after the polling ends.
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Most opinion polls have projected the SP as the closest challenger to the ruling BJP. In 2017, the BJP displaced the Samajwadi Party from power, winning an unprecedented tally of 312 seats. The SP, on the other hand, was victorious on 47, while its then-partner, the Congress, bagged just seven.
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In 2012, the SP came to power with 224 seats, pushing the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) out of power.