E-Paper
Focus on Varanasi and Azamgarh today
SBSP chief Omprakash Rajbhar is seeking re-election from Ghazipur’s Zahoorabad seat and Abbas Ansari, a SP-SBSP alliance candidate, is in fray to retain the Mau Sadar seat of his father Mukhtar Ansari.
BJP stronghold Varanasi and Samajwadi Party bastion Azamgarh will be in focus when nine districts of eastern UP go to polls in the seventh and final phase of UP assembly elections on Monday.
Varanasi is parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Azamgarh is represented by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav in the Lok Sabha.
BJP and allies had won all eight seats of Varanasi, while SP had won five out of 10 seats in Azmagarh in 2017.
According to Uttar Pradesh Election Watch Association for Democratic Reform out of 607 candidates, 170 (28%) have declared criminal cases against themselves and 131 (22%) have serious criminal cases.
Prof Trilochan Shashtri, chairperson of UPEWADR said in a statement that his association has analysed the affidavits of 607 candidates, who are among those contesting from 54 constituencies in the seventh phase. The affidavit of six candidates could not be analysed as their affidavits were not clear.
Shashtri said criminal cases declared by candidates are as follows: 26 out of 45 (58%) of Samajwadi Party, 26 out of 47 (44%) of BJP, 20 out of 52 (38%) of BSP, 20 out of 54 for Congress (37%) and eight out of 47 (17%) for AAP candidates.
Important candidates
*Omprakash Rajbhar (SBSP): national president of Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP)
*Anil Rajbhar (BJP): Minister
*Neelkanth Tiwari (BJP): Minister
Ravindra Jaiswal (BJP): Minister
*Abbas Ansari (SP-SBSP alliance candidate): Ansari is son Mafioso-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari. He is in the fray to retain the seat of his father, who won it for five times consecutively.
Important constituencies
Varanasi South: BJP has been winning this seat since 1989. BJP’s Shyamdev Roy Chaudhary won it consecutively seven times till 2017. In 2017, BJP fielded Neelkanth Tiwari and he was elected MLA for first time. Tiwari is seeking re-election from the seat. The SP has fielded Kishan Dikshit, Congress Mudita Kapoor and BSP Dinesh Kasaudhan. Ajit Singh is the AAP candidate.
Varanasi Cantt: The seat is considered a BJP stronghold. BJP won the seat in 1991 since then the party registered victory on this seat in every assembly election. In 2017, BJP fielded Saurabh Srivastava and he was elected. He is seeking re-election from this constituency. Congress has fielded Rajesh Mishra and SP has fielded Pooja Yadav. Kaushik Kumar Pandey is trying his luck as BSP candidate. AAP has fielded Rakesh Pandey.
Ghazipur’s Zahoorabad seat: The seat is in focus as SBSP chief Omprakash Rajbhar is the SBSP-SP alliance candidate here. He is seeking re-election for the second time. In 2017, Rajbhar contested the election in alliance with BJP. BJP has fielded Kalicharan Rajbhar. BSP has fielded former minister Shadab Fatima and Congress has fielded Gyanprakash.
Mau Sadar: The seat is in focus since 1996, the year Mukhtar Ansari was elected MLA from here. He won the seat five times. In 2017, Ansari contested on BSP symbol and won. In this election, the SBSP-SP alliance has fielded Abbas Ansari on the seat. BJP has fielded Ashok Singh, BSP Bhim Rajbhar and Madhavendra Singh is Congress candidate.
Azamgarh Sadar: Durga Yadav of SP won this seat in 1996. Since then, he maintained his winning streak. He is seeking re-election. BJP has fielded Akhilesh Kumar Mishra, Congress Praveen Kumar Singh and BSP Sushil Kumar Singh.
IN FIGURES
Districts/Constituencies
Azamgarh: Atraulia, Gopalpur, Sagari, Mubarakpur, Azamgarh Sadar, Nizamabad, Phoolpur Pawai, Deedarganj, Lalganj and Mehnagar.
Jaunpur: Badlapur, Shahganj, Sadar, Malhani, Machhali Shahar, Mungara Badshahpur, Madiyahun, Jafrabad and Kerakat
Varanasi: Varanasi South, Varanasi North, Varanasi Cantt, Rohania, Sevapuri, Pindara, Ajgara and Shivpur
Ghazipur: Ghazipur Sadar, Jangipur, Mohammadabad, Jamania, Jakhania, Zahoorabad and Saidpur
Mirzapur: Mirzapur Sadar, Majhawan, Marihan, Chhanabe and Chunar
Chandauli: Mughasarai, Syyedraja, Chakia, and Sakaldiha
Sonbhadra: Roberstsganj, Ghoraval, Obra and Duddhi
Mau: Mau Sadar, Ghosi, Madhuban and Mohammadabad Gohna
Bhadohi: Gyanpur, Bhadohi and Aurai
