The seven-phase UP assembly elections enter the sixth phase on March 3 in which Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will be in the fray from Gorakhpur. Five ministers of the Yogi Adityanath government will also face a crucial test in the sixth phase polls.
The 10 districts going to polls in the sixth phase are Gorakhpur, Ambedkarnagar, Ballia, Balrampur, Basti, Deoria, Kushinagar, Maharajganj, Sant Kabir Nagar and Siddharthnagar.
The prominent faces in the fray in this phase are Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi, Minister of State for Basic Education Satish Chandra Dwivedi, Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh and Ministers of State Sriram Chauhan and Jai Prakash Nishad.
In the 2017 assembly polls, Bharatiya Janata Party had won 46 of the seats going to polls in this phase while two seats were won by its allies Apna Dal (Sonelal) and Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party). However, this time the SBSP has deserted BJP and joined hands with Samajwadi Party.
Of the 57 seats, 37 are under red alert (polling areas where more than three candidates have criminal cases registered against them).
Despite only two phases of polling left, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is holding back-to-back rallies in Purvanchal. In eastern UP, his rallies are scheduled till March 4. The last phase of the election will be held on March 7.
A total of 2,14,62,816 electorate -- 1,14,63,113 males, 99,98,383 females and 1,320 third genders -- are expected to exercise their right to franchise to seal the fates of 676 candidates in 57 constituencies out of which 11 are reserved for Scheduled Caste.
Once again BJP's Satish Chandra Dwivedi is contesting from Itwa assembly constituency in Siddharthnagar. He is locked in a direct contest with Samajwadi Party candidate and former UP assembly speaker Mata Prasad Pandey. In Baansi, Jai Pratap Singh will be contesting against SP's Monu Dubey. Congress candidate from Baansi, Kiran Shukla and Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Radhe Shyam Shukla are also in the fray from here.
UP minister Sriram Chauhan is in the fray from Khajani assembly seat (SC) in Gorakhpur, Chauhan is the sitting MLA from Dhanghata in Sant Kabir Nagar district. Khajani will witness a three-corner contest, though the rivals are terming Chauhan as an outsider.
Jai Prakash Nishad is the BJP candidate from Rudrapur constituency in Deoria. He is pitted against SP's Ram Bhual Nishad and BSP's Suresh Tiwari. Disappointed over not getting a ticket from the saffron party, Tiwari, a BJP MLA from Barhaj, had joined the BSP.
In Pathardeva constituency, Surya Pratap Shahi has locked horns with SP's Brahma Shankar Tripathi.
The sixth phase poll has 27 per cent tainted candidates, 38 per cent crorepatis while 182 candidates have criminal cases registered against them. BJP candidate Vinay Shankar Tiwari, who is contesting election from Chillupar constituency in Gorakhpur, tops the list of crorepatis. Rakesh Pandey, SP candidate from Jalalpur in Ambedkarnagar, has assets worth over Rs 63 crore while BSP candidate Umashankar Singh from Rasra in Ballia, has declared assets worth Rs 54 crore.
The candidate with least assets is Deepak Shrivastav of the Aam Aadmi Party, who has declared assets of Rs 500 only. He is contesting from Siswa assembly seat in Maharajganj.
Shimon Prakash, an independent candidate from Belthara Road (SC) seat in Ballia, has declared assets of Rs 6,600.Narsingh Pal, AAP candidate from Rudrapur seat in Deoria, has declared assets of over Rs 10,000.
The Association for Democratic Reforms has analysed the affidavits of 670 candidates. Among the tainted candidates, 23 per cent have 151 cases of serious nature registered against them.BSP candidate from Sahjanwa, Sudhir Singh, has the maximum number of cases, 26, registered against him. He is followed by SBSP candidate from Khadda in Kushinagar, Ashok Chauhan, who has 19 cases registered against him. Azad Samaj Party candidate from Gorakhpur, Chandrasekhar, has 16 cases against him.
Eight candidates have cases of crime against women against them, while two have rape cases. There are murder charges against eight candidates, attempt to murder case against 23.
Party-wise, 40 of the 48 SP candidates, 23 of the 52 BJP candidates, 22 of the 56 Congress candidates, 22 of the 57 BSP candidates and seven of the 51 AAP candidates are tainted.