Amidst claims and counterclaims and speculations in the backdrop of assembly elections in the biggest state UP, voting in 49 assemble constituencies will take place on 4th march which is the 6th phase of elections in tight security arrangements. All contesting parties are confident of their respective wins. Remarkably the PM who is the main star campaigner for the BJP has been camping in UP and addressing the rallies in the state. Around 1.72 crore voters, including 94.60 lakh men and 77.84 lakh women are eligible to cast their vote in this round to decide the fate of 635 candidates. The districts going to polls are Mau, Gorakhpur, Maharajganj, Kushinagar, Deoria, Azamgarh, and Ballia. Surprisingly this time Mulayam Singh Yadav has not addressed a single meeting in his Parlimentry constituency. The BJP is contesting 45 seats and its ally Apna Dal contesting 1 seat. BSP has fielded candidates on all 49 seats. SP is contesting 40 seats and congress 9 seats under an alliance. Prominent candidates in this phase include Swami Prasad Mouya of BSP, former BJP state president Surya Pratap Shahi, Sham Bahadur Yadav of SP, son of former Governor Ram Naresh Yadav, ambika choudhary and Narad Rai are contesting on BSP ticket, (they were previously in SP).
The issue of development is at central stage in these elections and all parties are competing with each other on this agenda. Election commission has declared that the exit polls could be telecast on 9th march evening after elections to one seat each in UP and Uttarakhand are over. Further the last phase of polling in UP is 8th march. The results of the poll will be declared on 11th march.
