The seventh and the final phase of UP State Assembly elections on March 8 is going to be the “mother of all battles” of State Assembly polls as stakes are high for all the contenders. This phase includes Varanasi, the lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Naredra Modi. Modi not only camped for three days in Varanasi, he becomes the first Prime Minister to have conducted three roadshows in the city for three consecutive days and addressed three public meetings.
Top leadership of the BJP, including party president Amit Shah and senior leaders of the RSS and the BJP leaders from West Bengal also campaigned in Varanasi to woo Bengali voters who are in sizeable numbers in Varanasi.
The stakes are high for the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance. The SP had won 23 seats out of total 40 seats going to polls in the seventh phase of Assembly election. The Bahujan Samaj Party is also a strong contender in the all the seats thus making the electoral battle highly interesting and triangular. In 2012 Assembly elections out of total 40 seats in seventh phase — the SP won 23, the BSP 5, the BJP 4, the Congress 3 and 5 Independents.
The BJP in 2014 parliamentary election had won all the lok Sabha seats in this region of east UP. The seven districts going to the polls in the seventh and last phase are Ghazipur, Varanasi, Jaunpur, Chandauli, Mirzapur, Bhadoi and Sonebhadra. The BJP faces tough challenge of retaining the lead it had established in 2014 lok Sabha elections. In 2014 lok Sabha polls BJP had won all the 4 Assembly segments under Varanasi lok Sabha seat. In 2017 BJP is facing tough challenge from the Congress in Pindra, Varanasi south and Varanasi Cantonment. Ajay Rai is the Congress candidate from Pindra seat. He has won for the four times from this seat and in 2014 had also contested as the Congress candidate against Narendra Modi.
Besides the Prime Minister, the prestige of the four Union Ministers is also at stake. The Ministers are Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, a native of Chanduli district, Union Minister of State Mahendra Nath Pandey also from the Chanduli district, Apna Dal president and Union Minister of State Anupriya Patel MP from Mirzapur, and Union Minister of State and MP from Ghazipur Manoj Sinha.
From Chunar seat of Mirzapur, Anurag Singh son of the former State BJP president Om Prakash Singh is locked in triangular contest with SP and BSP. Prominent candidates in the phase are Parasnath Yadav (Malhani), Shailendra Yadav (Shahganj), Surendra Patel (Sevapuri) and Kailash Chaurasia (Mirzapur) — all Ministers and senior SP leader Om Prakash Singh from Jamania Assembly seat in Gahzipur district. Vijay Mishra, former Minister of State was denied ticket by the SP so he switched over the BSP and is in the fray thus adding to owes of the Samajwadi Party.
BSP president Om Prakash Rajbhar, an ally of the BJP is in the fray from Zahurabad seat of Ghazipur district), Apna Dal (Krishan Patel faction) president Krishna Patel (Rohania), Congress leaders Ajai Rai (Pindra), laliteshpati Tripathi (Marihan) and Nadim Javed (Jaunpur).
Some mafias and their close kin are also in the fray, including Dhananjay Singh, Mukhtar Ansari’s brother Sibatullah Ansari, sharp shooter Munna Bajrangi’s wife Seema Singh, mafia don Brajesh Singh’s brother Sushil Singh and mafia don from Gyanpur seat of Bhadoi district Vijay Mishra, sitting MlA, who was denied ticket by the Samajwadi party.
In the seventh phase, 1.41 crore electorate — 76.62 lakh males and 64.76 lakh females — are expected to exercise their franchise in 14,458 polling booths. There are 535 candidates in the fray for the last phase. Varanasi Cantonment has the highest number of 24 candidates and Kerakat seat in Jaunpur district has the lowest only six candidates.