Why the fourth phase polls in UP are crucial

The fourth phase of polling on Wednesday on 59 seats across nine districts of the Avadh region in Uttar Pradesh would decide the stature of controversial union minister Ajay Mishra, whose son Ashish Mishra was accused of mowing down four farmers with his vehicle in Lakhimpur Kheri district last year triggering widespread anger among the farmers.

The saffron party's woes had been compounded by its own leader Varun Gandhi, who was an MP from Pilibhit, which would also witness polling in this phase. Varun had been spewing venom against the party and targeting its leadership over different issues and had extended support to the farmers over their demand for a law on MSP and sacking of Ajay Mishra from the union cabinet.

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Ground reports from Lakhimpur Kheri, Pilibhit and some other parts of the districts going to the polls on Wednesday suggested that there was anger among the farmers over the 'failure' of the centre to enact a law on the MSP as well as the continuance of Ajay Mishra in the ministry. With Ashish Mishra being granted bail recently, their anger has only compounded.

A poor performance in Lakhimpur Kheri could result in the sacking of Ajay Mishra while a good performance would strengthen his stature within the BJP.

The stray cattle menace, which had already become a big issue in the polls, could also hurt the BJP, especially Sitapur and some other districts, according to the political experts here.

For Congress, this phase will be an acid test, which was battling desertions in party president Sonia Gandhi's Lok Sabha constituency of Raebareli. Though Sonia had not campaigned in the state, she did address the electorate in Raebareli through virtual mode on Tuesday.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's strategy of fielding non-political and new faces would also be on the test in this phase. Congress has fielded Unnao rape survivor's mother from Unnao Sadar seat.

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Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav, whose party had been wiped out in the 2017 assembly polls in the region and could manage to win only six seats, will be eyeing this phase closely. "We will have to increase our tally substantially if we are to form the next government,'' a senior SP leader here conceded while speaking to DH.

There were 14 reserved seats in the region and hence BSP supremo Mayawati, whose party could win only one seat last time, would also be hoping to better her party's performance.

BJP had swept the region in the 2017 polls winning 51 seats. Party leaders here feel that it was near impossible to repeat that performance. They also admitted that the Lakhimpur Kheri incident could 'hurt' its prospects in the region this time.

The phase is also going to test union minister Rajnath Singh, who is an MP from Lucknow seat. BJP had won eight of the nine seats in Lucknow, last time. The situation appears to have changed this time following the anti-CAA protests and bickering in the saffron party over the selection of candidates.

The nine districts going to the polls on Wednesday included Lucknow, Raebareli, Lakhimpur Kheri, Pilibhit, Sitapur, Fatehpur, Banda, Unnao and Hardoi.

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