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UP polls: No seat a stronghold for anyone, says Akhilesh challenger SP Baghel
Karhal goes to polls in the third phase on February 20. The constituency has been a Samajwadi bastion since 1993, except in 2002 when BJP leader Sobaran Singh Yadav had won it.
Union minister SP Singh Baghel, who is contesting against Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav from Mainpuri’s Karhal, said he was confident of a victory, news agency PTI reported.
Baghel also asked Akhilesh to file a nomination from Azamgarh.
“No area or seat can be termed 'fortress' or ‘stronghold’. Prominent politicians like Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi have also faced defeat in their bastion,” the BJP leader said.
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“The poll battle in Karhal is not one-sided. A journey across the high-stakes seat shows that there is a BJP wave,” Baghel added.
This is the second election battle in which Baghel is pitted against the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister. Earlier, both leaders contested against each other during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.
Karhal goes to polls in the third phase on February 20. The constituency has been a Samajwadi bastion since 1993, except in 2002 when BJP leader Sobaran Singh Yadav had won it. However, he joined the SP in 2007 and had been contesting from Karhal.
Karhal is a part of Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat, which Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav represents in Parliament.
Baghel, who was introduced into politics by Mulayam, said, “If it is a one-sided contest, why he has pushed members of his family here for campaigning.”
Also Read| UP polls: Let BJP lose by biggest margin in Karhal, says Akhilesh Yadav
The Union minister added that Akhilesh Yadav chose the safest of the total 403 constituencies for him but the SP chief knew that victory was not clear. “He (Akhilesh) must not have expected that I will file nomination against him from here,” Baghel also told PTI.
Akhilesh Yadav, who is determined to bring the SP back into power in Uttar Pradesh, told his party workers to ensure that the BJP's loss by the biggest margin is from Karhal.
“If the BJP loses by the biggest margin, it should be from the Karhal assembly seat which had been a favourite of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. Voters here are always with the SP. The election here is for saving democracy," Yadav said during a party leaders meeting in Karhal on Sunday, adding the seat has a special relationship with his father Mulayam.
Elections in Uttar Pradesh will begin from Wednesday in seven phases and will end on March 7. The counting of votes and declaration of results will be on March 10.
