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UP Assembly polls: All eyes on PM Modi's Varanasi as BJP, Congress, SP jostle for power
Varanasi is witnessing a multi-cornered contest with the three main parties in the fray - the ruling BJP, Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party, and the Congress.
With the last leg of the seven-phase Uttar Pradesh Assembly election on Monday, Varanasi's eight Vidhan Sabha seats are expected to hog the limelight as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been himself leading the campaigning for the Bharatiya Janata Party there.
The eight seats in Varanasi are Banaras City (south,) Banaras City (north), Shivpur, Sewapuri, Cantonment, Ajgara, Pindra, and Rohaniya. Of these eight, five are within the parliamentary constituency of Varanasi that is represented by PM Modi in the Lok Sabha.
Varanasi is witnessing a multi-cornered contest with the three main parties in the fray - the ruling BJP, Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party, and the Congress.
In Banaras (south), minister Neelkanth Tiwari will be fighting against the Samajwadi Party's Kishan Dixit. Speaking to news agency ANI, locals said a close contest could be expected between the two as both candidates hail from the Brahmin caste.
"Dixit has been working among the people for a long time. Therefore, he holds a good influence among the voters. Whereas, Tiwari is a minister and is contesting the election in the name of PM Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath," a local said.
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Another seat that will see a tight contest is Banaras (north). The BJP has fielded another minister - Ravindra Jaiswal against the Samajwadi Party's Ashfaq Ahmed. Jaiswal won this seat in 2012 and 2017.
In Shivpur, the BJP's candidate is yet another minister - Anil Rajbhar - who is up against the Samajwadi Party's Arvind Rajbhar. Arvind is the son of Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party chief Omprakash Rajbhar.
In Sevapuri, the BJP's Nilratna Patel is pitted against Surendra Patel from the Samajwadi Party, setting the stage for what is expected to be another close fight. Nilratna Patel won the 2017 race but Surendra Patel is said to have considerable influence in the region.
The equation changes in Pindra where Congress' Ajay Rai will hope to give a tough fight to BJP's Awadhesh Singh. Babu Lal Patel from Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party is also in the fray, and will hope to do one better than the second place he secured in 2017.
In the 1996, 2002, and 2007 elections, Ajay Rai won on a BJP ticket. After delimitation, the Kolasala seat changed to Piedra.
As many as 54 seats spread across nine districts - Azamgarh, Mau, Jaunpur, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Mirzapur, Bhadohi, and Sonbhadra - will go to the polls on Sunday.
The BJP, under the leadership of Yogi Adityanath, is eyeing a return to power in Uttar Pradesh for a second consecutive term but faces stiff competition from the alliance of small and regional parties stitched together by Akhilesh Yadav and his Samajwadi Party, which includes Jayant Chaudhary and the Rashtriya Lok Dal.
The counting of votes will take place on March 10.
