The electrifying electioneering for the crucial sixth phase polls to 14 Lok Sabha seats in the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh came to an end on Friday evening.
Polling in these constituencies will be held on May 12. The key constituencies in this phase of election include Allahabad, Sultanpur and Azamgarh.
The run-up to the sixth phase poll witnessed intense campaigning by the BJP, the SP-BSP-RLD alliance and the Congress, with their leaders leaving no stone unturned to woo the voters.
Polling in this phase assumes importance as the fate of Union minister Maneka Gandhi (Sultanpur), Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav (Azamgarh) and UP Cabinet minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi (Allahabad) will be decided by the voters.
Bhojpuri actor Dinesh Lal Yadav alias Nirahua is the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate against Akhilesh Yadav from Azamgarh, while Congress has fielded its old warhorse Dr Sanjay Singh from Sultanpur against Maneka Gandhi.
The BJP continued its campaigning in a big way with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and several Union ministers and senior party leaders addressing rallies in almost all the 14 constituencies.
The Prime Minister addressed election rallies in Pratapgarh and Basti on Saturday last, while on Thursday, he addressed three meetings in Azamgarh, Jaunpur and Allahabad.
BJP chief Amit Shah also campaigned in several constituencies and addressed four public meetings on Thursday. Yogi Adityanath also criss-crossed the state to address poll meetings along with his colleagues.
The SP-BSP-RLD alliance in the state also focused on the Purvanchal region in the last few days. The alliance held joint rallies in Azamgarh and Jaunpur and also campaigned in several constituencies separately.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra campaigned against her aunt Maneka Gandhi by holding a roadshow in Sultanpur on Thursday. She also addressed poll meetings on Friday .
There are 177 candidates in the fray in this phase of Lok Sabha elections and their fate will be decided by 2.53 eligible voters who will exercise their franchise in 16,998 polling centres.
The constituencies going to polls in this phase are: Sultanpur, Pratapgarh, Phulpur, Allahabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Shravasti, Dumariyaganj, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Lalganj, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Machhlishahr and Bhadohi.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had swept these seats barring Azamgarh from where SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav was declared elected, defeating BJP’s Ramakant Yadav. But this time, Mulayam has shifted to Mainpuri and his son and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav is contesting from Azamgarh.
The highest number of 20 candidates are in the fray from Jaunpur followed by 15 each in Sultanpur, Lalganj, Azamgarh and Machhlishahr, 14 each in Phulpur and Allahabad, 12 in Bhadohi, 11 each in Ambedkar Nagar and Basti, 10 in Shravasti, 8 in Pratapgarh and 7 each in Sant Kabir Nagar and Dumariyaganj.