Uttar Pradesh is all set for the second phase of the assembly elections on February 14. Over 2 crore people from 55 constituencies in nine districts will be voting in this phase between 7 am and 6 pm.
While political campaigning for the second phase came to an end on Saturday, security arrangements have been tightened in 17,000 polling booths across the state.
The nine districts voting in the second phase are Saharanpur, Bijnor, Moradabad, Sambhal, Rampur, Amroha, Budaun, Bareilly and Shahjahanpur. The fate of 586 candidates will decided in this phase.
Muslims influenced by Barelvi and Deoband sects will be voting in this phase, and these areas are considered to be strongholds of the Samajwadi Party. In 2017, the BJP had won 38 seats out of 55 going to polls in this phase. The SP and Congress, contesting in alliance, bagged 15 and two seats respectively. Muslim candidates won in 10 seats out of 15 seats won by the SP.
Important faces
Among significant leaders contesting in the second phase are senior SP leader Mohammad Azam Khan from Rampur, who is contesting the polls from behind bars, and state finance minister Suresh Khanna from Shahjahanpur.
Dharam Singh Saini, a former minister in the Yogi Adityanath-led cabinet who switched to the SP with some other well-known backward caste leaders, will also be contesting in this phase from Nakud assembly segment.
Other key candidates include Nawab Kazim Ali Khan of the Congress from Rampur, SP’s Supriya Aron from Bareilly Cantonment, Keerat Singh Gurjar from Gangoh and BJP’s Devendra Nagpal from Naugawan seat. Aron is the former mayor of Bareilly and switched to the SP from the Congress along with her husband. She was in the grand old party for 15 years.
Other important candidates in the fray are outgoing minister of state for jal shakti Baldev Singh Aulakh from Bilaspur, minister of state for urban development Mahesh Chandra Gupta from Budaun, and minister of state for secondary education Gulab Devi from Chandausi.
Security arrangements
Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), Civil Police and Home Guards have been deployed at all polling stations in across the nine districts, as per news agency ANI. Bareilly additional director general Rajkumar was quoted as saying, “Security arrangements are underway for the second phase of Uttar Pradesh polls to be held tomorrow. CAPF, Civil Police and Home Guards are deployed at various polling stations. Moradabad police has developed e-sampark app to receive information with the click of a button.”
The ADG was further quoted, “Air ambulance will be available at Bareilly airport. Barricading has been done in areas bordering Uttarakhand to curtail interstate criminal activity. Yellow cards have been issued to notorious people who can disturb voting.” Drones will also be on the lookout for suspicious activity in “sensitive” areas, he added.
There will be special focus on eight “sensitive” constituencies in Bijnor, Sambhal and Saharanpur, as per media reports. Sensitive areas are those where there is intense rivalry between political parties, criminal activity, communal as well as caste-based tension.
Uttar Pradesh voted for first phase of the assembly elections on February 10, and recorded close to 60 per cent voter turnout. The results of the seven-phase elections will be declared on March 10.
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