Express News Service
LUCKNOW: The stage is set for the culmination of the seven-phased electoral battle for Lucknow in the country’s most populous and politically most crucial state of Uttar Pradesh with the counting of votes to 403 assembly constituencies on Thursday.
While the outcome of the 2022 assembly elections will be in a way a referendum on incumbent chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s performance, for others like the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Congress, it will be a do-or-die battle.
No wonder then that the parties breached all barriers in holding a two-month-long high-octane campaign across 75 districts to woo voters outside the ambit of their clout and respective caste bases. However, the Election Commission of India imposed restrictions owing to the omicron-driven third wave of Covid-19.
In what was appearing to be a bipolar contest between the ruling BJP and the main opposition Samajwadi Party, Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party relatively remained a silent player on the ground with the limited appearance of chief Mayawati in the poll arena. Mayawati has helmed UP for four terms as CM. After forming the government thrice in alliance with the BJP, Mayawati came to power with an absolute majority in 2007. On the other, Congress, which had been put of power in UP since 1989, succeeded in getting visibility through its extensive campaign across the state, this time.
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While the ruling BJP contested in alliance with its tried and tested partner Apna Dal (S) led by Anupriya Patel, who is a minister in Modi cabinet and NISHAD, led by Dr Sanjay Nishad, an MLC coming from the boatmen community among the most backward castes. The BJP fielded candidates on 376 of the total 403 Assembly segments leaving 24 seats for the allies.
As for the Samajwadi Party, taking lessons from its back-to-back defeats since 2014, Akhilesh Yadav tried to beat the saffron brigade in its own game this time by stitching a rainbow coalition of seven smaller caste-based parties to do away with the tag of ‘the party of Yadavs and Muslims’. SP had struck an alliance with Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), Mahan Dal, Janwadi Party (Socialist), Apna Dal faction led by Krishna Patel, Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party, Shivpal Yadav’s Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party and Gondwana Gantantra Party. BSP and Congress did not have any alliance and fielded candidates on all 403 seats.
The notification for the seven-phases UP elections was issued on January 8 and the voting for 58 seats of 11 western UP districts in the first phase took place on February 10. The second phase for 55 seats across nine districts took place on February 14 followed by the third phase for 59 seats across 16 districts on February 20, the fourth phase for 61 seats across nine districts on February 23, fifth phase for 60 seats across 10 districts on February 27, sixth phase for 57 seats across 10 districts on March 3 and the last phase of voting for 54 seats across nine districts took place on March 7.
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