Lucknow, 15 April: The election campaign on eight seats of the first phase of Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh will end on April 17. Along with the major parties, small parties have also put their full strength in the election campaign in the Lok Sabha seats of Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Nagina, Moradabad, Rampur and Pilibhit. If political analysts are to be believed, there are chances of a triangular contest on these eight seats.
Of the eight Lok Sabha seats in the state, except Nagina Lok Sabha seat, a triangular contest is being seen between the candidates of SP, BSP and BJP. There is a four-cornered contest in Nagina Lok Sabha after Bhim Army convenor Chandrashekhar Azad entered poll fray.
Rampur Lok Sabha seat is the most discussed in the first phase. During the campaign of SP candidate Maulana Mohibbullah Nadvi in Rampur, he had to face opposition from the leaders of Azam Khan’s group. Virendra Goyal, close to Azam Khan, has supported BSP candidate Zeeshan Khan from Rampur seat. Even after two days were left for the campaign to end, SP President Akhilesh Yadav did not arrive here to campaign.
In the triangular contest between SP candidate Maulana Mohibbullah Nadvi, BSP’s Zeeshan Khan and BJP candidate Ghanshyam Singh Lodhi on Rampur seat, the trend of small political parties supporting SP and BJP continues. After the entry of the BSP candidate, the fight for the BJP candidate is thought to be good.
BJP canceled the ticket of Varun Gandhi from Pilibhit Lok Sabha seat and after this it has fielded Uttar Pradesh Public Works Minister Jitin Prasad. Many ministers and party officials are busy campaigning in support of BJP candidate Jitin Prasad by reaching every village in Pilibhit. Although BJP is considering its election as one-sided, yet when it comes to the public, SP candidate Bhagwat Saran Gangwar and BSP candidate Anees Ahmed Khan alias Phoolbabu are also in the fray.
In the first phase, SP President Akhilesh Yadav has announced his candidates. After joining the campaign in favor of the Samajwadi Party, there seems to be an increase in activism among the socialist workers. In the campaign, BSP chief Mayawati and National Coordinator Akash Anand have raised the temperature in Western Uttar Pradesh with their election promises.
At the same time, due to the alliance of BJP and RLD, the strength of campaign has doubled on eight seats. The statements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh are strongly discussed in the first phase. At the same time, BJP state president Bhupendra Chaudhary and RLD president Jayant Chaudhary are campaigning vigorously in rural areas with their teams.
