UP Phase 2 goes to poll on Saturday

Phase two of UP’s seven stage elections on Saturday will see votes cast in 59 Assembly constituencies of which 12 are reserved to choose between 1099 candidates. The districts that go to the polls are Maharajganj, Kushinagar, Dewariya, Ballia, Ghazipur, Azamgarh, Mau, Sant Kabir Nagar and Gorakhpur. The total number of voters is 1.92 crores.

This phase has the dubious distinction of having a record high of 118 criminals in the fray according to the analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms. This is UP’s eastern belt with fertile agricultural land but it remains backward due to poorly developed infrastructure, negligent industrialization and a patchy health record. This is also the state’s sugar bowl with over a dozen sugar mills. This industry too is in a bad shape with several mills on the verge of closing down and seven running, but incurring heavy losses.

Health problems too plague this area. In Gorakhpur, Japanese encephalitis has turned a yearly killer of children. All these combine to produce a high rate of migration to other places in search of jobs and better living conditions.

In the 2007 elections BSP had led the seat tally with 30 with the SP coming in second with 21. BJP netted 7 and the Congress fared poorly with just two seats which were the same as the number for the Independents.

The BSP has experimented with new faces on more than a dozen seats this time. In Ballia for instance, all sitting MLAs have been replaced. These are now contesting from other parties. In Gorakhpur it denied ticket to minister Fateh Bahadur Singh who is now contesting on a NCP ticket. This might hamper the party's performance this time.

SP will hope to win the Muslim vote in Ghazipur and Azamgarh. For the Congress the region will test Rahul Gandhi’s popularity for he had prompted the announcement of a Rs 6,234 crore package for weavers who are concentrated in Mau and Azamgarh.

For the BJP, this round is a test of Yogi Adityanath’s influence as many of the candidates are of his choice. The firebrand MP had been vocal in his disapproval of the induction of tainted BSP man Babu Singh Kushwaha into the party and had refused to campaign elsewhere.

This round will also test the Peace Party which was born in this region. With Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar also campaigning in the region, the JD (U) might take away votes from possible winning candidates.

In preparation for the elections, the constituencies bordering Nepal and Bihar have been sealed. 682 companies of paramilitary forces, 100 of PAC and 38,000 home guards have been deployed to watch over 12,995 polling centres with 20,020 polling stations.

There are 32 constituencies with 16 plus candidates where two balloting units each have been used. While 34 sitting MLAs will test their luck, star candidates include BSP’s state president Swami Prasad Maurya, Vidhan Sabha speaker Sukhdev Rajbhar, minister Phagu Chauhan, BJP state president Surya Pratap Shahi, former BJP state president Ramapati Ram Tripathi, SP general secretary Om Prakash Singh, chief whip of the SP in Vidhan Sabha Ambika Choudhary and Peace Party president Mohammed Ayub.