Lucknow: The second phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections has begun. Nearly 2.02 crore voters will decide the fate of 586 candidates in nine districts covering 55 Assembly constituencies in this phase.
Ajay Kumar Shukla, the Chief Electoral Officer, stated that adequate measures have been taken to ensure free, fair, and peaceful voting.
“Voting takes place between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. on 23,404 booths in 12,544 polling centres,” he said.
Saharanpur, Bijnore, Moradabad, Rampur, Bareilly, Amroha, Sambhal, Badaun, and Shahjahanpur are the nine districts where voting is taking place.
Six of these districts have a Muslim population that ranges from 34.5 percent to 50 percent, with some constituencies reaching 65-70 per cent.
Brahmins and Vaishyas are the other dominant castes, though Jats and Dalits also have a significant presence in a dozen or so constituencies.
Mohd Azam Khan, the SP candidate from Rampur, is a prominent contestant in this round. Azam Khan is running for office from prison, and his entire campaign has been run by his wife Tanzeen Fatima and son Abdullah Azam, who is contesting for the Suar seat next door.
The BJP won 38 of the 55 seats in 2017, with the SP winning 15 and the Congress winning only two. The Bahujan Samaj Party, led by Mayawati, had been unable to open an account in the region.
Surprisingly, the districts in this phase are prominently featured in the Yogi Adityanath government’s list of ‘One district, One product’ (ODOP).
On the ODOP list, there is woodwork from Saharanpur, brassware from Moradabad, knives from Rampur, and cane furniture from Bareilly.
