UP poll battle enters crucial phase: Amethi, Rae Bareli, Lucknow to vote tomorrow

Other seats that go to the polls include Mohanlalganj, Barabanki, Kaiserganj, Hamirpur, Banda, Fatehpur, Jhansi, Jalaun, Kaushambi, and Gonda. The BJP won 13 of these 14 seats, losing only Rae Bareli.

Among the constituencies that will be closely watched are Kaiserganj, where the BJP dropped incumbent MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh who has faced sexual harassment allegations, and Rae Bareli, where Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is in the fray after his mother Sonia Gandhi chose to move to the Rajya Sabha.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister Amit Shah, who extensively campaigned in neighbouring Ayodhya, chose to skip Kaiserganj even as Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath addressed a rally in the Payagpur area of the constituency on May 12. Brij Bhushan, however, was conspicuous by his absence and also did not find a mention in Adityanath’s address.

Both the BJP and the Opposition INDIA bloc aggressively campaigned in the state, with Modi holding four rallies a day while Rahul and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav held at least two joint rallies daily in the run-up to the fifth phase.

Meanwhile, apart from Irani and Rajnath, the electoral fate of three more Union ministers – Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti (Fatehpur), Kaushal Kishore (Mohanlalganj), and Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma (Jalaun) – will be decided in the fifth phase.

Modi intensified his campaign in the state after he filed his nomination in Varanasi on May 14 and addressed rallies in Hamirpur, Kaushambi, Fatehpur, and Barabanki since then. Notably, he skipped campaigning in Amethi and Rae Bareli, where Shah and Adityanath held fort for the party. While the UP CM addressed more than four rallies in the two constituencies, Shah participated in two public meetings and a roadshow in Amethi.

Over the last week, campaigning in Rae Bareli hit a crescendo with both sides – the NDA and INDIA bloc – mobilising thousands of their supporters. All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Priyanka Gandhi — initially it was speculated that she would contest from Rae Bareli — stayed put in the seat since May 6. Rahul too visited Rae Bareli thrice, including twice with Sonia. He was also accompanied by Akhilesh on Friday.

Meanwhile, on Friday, Shah invited Irani, who defeated Rahul five years ago, to share the stage with him and party candidate Dinesh Pratap Singh in Rae Bareli. Seemingly in an attempt to consolidate Brahmin voters, he also inducted SP’s three-term Rae Bareli MLA Manoj Pandey into the party. In February, Pandey resigned as the SP chief whip minutes before voting in the Rajya Sabha elections and subsequently cross-voted.

In Amethi, Irani faces long-time Gandhi family confidant K L Sharma, who has managed the election campaigns of the family in Amethi and Rae Bareli since 1984.

In Faizabad, which has emerged as a prestige battle for the BJP after the Ram Temple consecration, Lallu Singh will be up against the SP’s nine-time MLA Awadhesh Prasad and Sachchidanand Pandey of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). The BJP’s top brass, including Modi, Shah and Adityanath, campaigned there.

All BJP MLAs and office-bearers in Lucknow have been drumming up support for Rajnath, who will face Lucknow East MLA Ravidas Mehrotra of the SP and Sarvar Malik of the BSP. The BJP has held the seat since 1991, when former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee first won it.

In Fatehpur, Niranjan Jyoti is likely to face a tough fight from senior SP leader Naresh Uttam Patel. The ruling party faces a formidable challenge from the Opposition in the SC-reserved seats of Kaushambi and Mohanlalganj too.