The sixth phase of polling for 57 seats in Uttar Pradesh assembly polls on Thursday will decide the fate of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and his seven cabinet colleagues besides several important opposition leaders.
UP Congress president Ajai Kumar Lallu, who was contesting from Tamkuhi Raj seat in Kushinagar district and senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader and leader of the opposition in the state assembly Ram Govind Chaudhary, who was contesting from Bansdih seat in Ballia district, are also in the fray in the sixth phase of polling.
Former UP minister Swami Prasad Maurya, who had quit the BJP days before the polls and joined the SP, is also in the fray in this phase. He is contesting from the Fazil Nagar seat.
While Adityanath is expected to have a smooth sailing on Gorakhpur Sadar seat, the BJP has been embroiled in a tough electoral battle on the other seats. Many of the constituencies going to the polls on Thursday are in Deoria, Siddharth Nagar, Sant Kabir Nagar, Maharajganj, Basti and Kushinagar districts, which are part of Gorakhpur division, where Adityanath wields considerable influence.
The BJP would be banking on Adityanath, whose decision to contest from his home turf of Gorakhpur was also aimed at impacting the outcome of the polls in more than three dozen seats in the division, to ensure that the saffron party repeats its 2017 performance when it had swept the region.
"We are completely banking on Adityanath, who was contesting assembly polls for the first time, to deliver in this phase as a large number of people from the constituencies going to the polls are associated with the Gorakhnath Temple of which he is the head," a senior BJP leader here said. Adityanath has campaigned aggressively in this region and addressed dozens of election rallies.
Besides Adityanath, as many as seven members of his cabinet were also in the fray in this phase. They included Surya Pratap Shahi from Pathardevan, Jai Pratap Singh from Bansi, Shreeram Chauhan from Khajani, Upendra Tewari from Phephna, Satish Chandra Dwivedi from Itwa, Anand Swaroop Shukla from Bairia and Jai Prakash Nishad from Chauri Chaura assembly seat.
Apart from the stiff challenge it faces from a resurgent SP, the saffron party also faced a rebellion from its own leaders on a number of seats. Firebrand leader Surendra Nath Singh, a sitting MLA from Bairia, was contesting against the official BJP nominee on the ticket of Vikassheel Insan Party (VIP) of Bihar minister and NDA ally Mukesh Sahni.
While Adityanath was banking almost completely on 'Hindutva' for his party's electoral success, its main rival, the SP, was banking on the perceived anger among the electorate on issues like inflation, unemployment, fertiliser shortage and stray cattle menace for its victory. Migration of some prominent Brahmin leaders from the BJP and BSP to the SP had also made the party nurture hopes of a much-improved performance in this phase.
BSP, which had fared poorly in the 2017 assembly elections in the region, was hoping to secure the support of the Dalits, its core vote bank, and Brahmins along with Muslims. BSP supremo Mayawati had addressed several election rallies in the region to garner support for her party.
Congress, which had managed to win only one seat in the region last time, is trying to make the contest multi-cornered in pockets and according to reports, the grand old party is well placed on at least half a dozen seats. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had addressed several election rallies and conducted roadshows at different places in the region.
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