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With 16 out of total 80 Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh already voted in the first two phases of elections, eyes have now turned towards 10 seats in the state that will go to the polls on May 7. The campaign for the third phase of Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh was marked by numerous roadshows and rallies by political bigwigs like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, chief minister Yogi Adityanath, and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav.
The 10 constituencies in Uttar Pradesh that will vote in the third phase on May 7 are Sambhal, Hathras (SC), Agra (SC), Fatehpur Sikri, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etah, Budaun, Aonla and Bareilly.
This phase holds significance for Mulayam Singh Yadav’s family as several of its members, including Akhilesh Yadav’s wife Dimple Yadav, are in the poll fray. BJP has given tickets to five new faces – Chhatrapal Gangwar from Bareilly, Durvijay Singh Shakya from Budaun, Anoop Pradhan Balmiki from Hathras-SC, Vishwadeep Singh from Firozabad, and Jayveer Singh from Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat.
Here are the key U.P. constituencies/candidates in the third phase:
Mainpuri – Dimple Yadav
Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency has been the bastion of the Yadav family, with Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav winning the seat for the first time in 1996. The Samajwadi Party has held the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat since then. In the 2019 general elections, Mulayam Singh Yadav defeated BJP’s Prem Singh Shakya by over 94,000 votes. After Mulayam Singh Yadav’s demise, Dimple Yadav contested the by-polls and won the seat by securing over 6 lakh votes. Dimple is again in the poll fray to defend the seat against BJP’s Jaiveer Singh, U.P. tourism and culture minister. Bahujan Samaj Party, which fought the 2019 general elections in alliance with the Samajwadi Party, has fielded Shiv Prasad Yadav to take on SP and BJP.
Firozabad – Akshay Yadav
Akshay Yadav, son of SP general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav, first contested the Lok Sabha polls from Firozabad in 2014 and won. However, Akshay Yadav lost the seat to BJP’s Chandra Sen Jadon by less than 30,000 votes in the 2019 elections when another member of the Yadav clan, Shivpal Singh Yadav, took the poll plunge from his newly-floated Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohiya) and secured nearly 92,000 votes. Akshay Yadav would be hoping to wrest back the seat from the BJP, which has fielded Vishwadeep Singh. Mayawati’s BSP has fielded Chowdhary Basheer from Firozabad, making the contest tri-cornered.
Budaun – Aditya Yadav
Aditya Yadav, son of senior Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Singh Yadav, is making his electoral debut from Budaun Lok Sabha constituency. While Budaun has been an SP stronghold since 1996, five-time MP Saleem Iqbal Shervani –once on a Congress ticket and four times on an SP ticket – securing nearly 52,000 votes as Congress candidate turned the results in favour of BJP’s Sanghmitra Maurya, who won the Lok Sabha seat with less than 20,000 votes. This time, the BJP has fielded Durvijay Singh Shakya from Budaun. The Shakya community holds significant influence in the Bilsi assembly constituency within the Budaun Lok Sabha region. BSP has fielded Muslim Khan but it is yet to be seen if he will be able to make it a triangular fight.
Agra – SP Baghel
The Bharatiya Janata Party has won this reserved seat five times since 1991, and three times in a row since 2009. Union minister Satyapal Baghel, who won from the Agra Lok Sabha constituency in 2019 by a landslide margin of 211,546 votes, is again in the poll fray to defend the seat against Suresh Chandra Kardan of Samajwadi Party and Pooja Amrohi of BSP.
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