With campaigning coming to halt for the second phase of election in 11 Parliamentary constituencies of Uttar Pradesh, the pride of the Samajwadi Party and the Congress is at stake.
Of the 11 seats that will go to polls on April 17, the Samajwadi Party and the Congress had won four and three seats respectively followed by two seats by The BJP and one each by RlD and BSP. However, what makes this phase special is that about half-a-dozen sitting MPs have either changed their constituency or heir party.There are 150 candidates in the fray of which 17 are females.
In Moradabad, the sitting MP of Congress, Mohammad Azharuddin, decided to contest from Rajasthan following which the party fielded Noor Banu, who had lost last two elections to SP’s Jaya Prada from Rampur. This time Jaya Parda has changed the party as well as her constituency and is contesting from Bijnore lok Sabha seat on a RlD ticket.
In Rampur, the Congress has fielded Noor Banu’s son Kazim Ali, a sitting MlA while SP has given a ticket to Azam Khan’s loyalist Nasir Ahmed Khan. The BJP also changed its Muslim face Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and fielded MlC Nepal Singh while Haji Akbar Hussain is contesting on a BSP’s ticket.
In Moradabad, Noor Banu is pitted in a multi-corner contest with SP’s candidate and former mayor ST Hassan, BJP’s Sarvesh Singh and BSP’s Hazi Yaqoob Ali Qureshi. In Amroha Parliamentary constituency, sitting MP of RlD, Devendra Nagpal failed to get a ticket and he is replaced by Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait. Devendra Nagpal, left RlD to join SP which also gave him a ticket but at the last moment, SP cancelled his ticket and fielded Humera Akhtar. Humera is the wife of State Minister Kamal Akhtar. The BJP has fielded Kunwar Singh Tanwar.
Maneka Gandhi, who won the Anola seat last time, has been shifted to a safer constituency Philibhit forcing her son and sitting MP Varun Gandhi to Sultanpur. From Anola, the BJP has fielded Dharmendra Kashyap, the BSP gave ticket to Sunil Shakiya while the Congress has fielded Salim Sherwani, who came third in 2004.
Congress’ alliance partner Mahan Dal is contesting from Nagina (reserve) and Badaun Parliamentary seats. In Sambhal Shafiqur Rehman Warq, who won the seat on Bahujan Samaj Party’s ticket is contesting on a SP ticket. The BSP gave ticket to Aqilur Rehman while the BJP and the Congress fielded Satyapal Saini and Acaharya Pramod Krishnan.
The Badaun Parliamentary constituency, which is a fight for prestige for SP as Mulayam Singh’s nephew Dharmendra Yadav is in the fray with Mahan Dal candidate Paglanand. The BJP has fielded Bijeesh Pathak while the BSP has given the ticket to Haji Akmal Khan. In Nagina reserved constituency, Mahan Dal fielded former MP Bhagwan Das while BJP’s Dr Yashwant Singh, SP’s Yashweer Singh and BSP’s Girish Chandra Jatav is in the fray.
Similarly in Shahjahenpur, bandit queen Phoolan Devi’s husband Umed Singh is contesting on BSP’s ticket. He is pitted against Krishna Rai of BJP, Mithlesh Kumar of SP and Chetram of the Congress.
Bareilly will witness fight between Praveen Aron and BJP’s Santosh Gangwar. In Kheri, Zafar Congress’ Ali Naqvi, whose prestige is at stake to retain the seat, is facing a tough time from SP’s Ravi Prakash, BJP’s Ajay Mishra `Teni’ and BSP’s Arvind Giri.