Akhilesh Yadav likely to contest from Kannauj or Sambhal in UP elections: Sources

Hours after Akhilesh Yadav confirmed that he would be contesting in the UP election, Republic on Wednesday learnt the Samajwadi Chief may choose any constituency in Kannauj or Sambhal. During a press briefing earlier in the day, Yadav had said that he wants to contest from a constituency that goes for voting before Gorakhpur (6th phase), the seat from which his opponent Yogi Adityanath is fighting in the UP elections. 

As per sources, the discussion on the Gunnaur constituency of Sambhal for Akhilesh Yadav is intensifying. It is pertinent to mention here that Yadav's father and patron of the SP Mulayam Singh Yadav had previously contested from the constituency, and also won from a considerable margin. 

"We have still not given out all the tickets, we will give them on the basis of what the constituency and its people want," Yadav had said in a press briefing earlier in the day. Sources say that the SP chief's uncle Shivpal Yadav may be given the ticket of his old seat Jaswant Nagar while his son Aditya may not be given a ticket. He will be adjusted in the legislative council, sources further said.   

BJP's Yogi Adityanath throws an open challenge

Yadav is mulling over the topic days after the Bharatiya Janata Party put out an open challenge for him along with BSP's Mayawati and Congress' Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to reveal the seat they were fighting from in the UP elections. 

Reiterating that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will be fighting from Gorakhpur, the party through a graphic stated, "After 18 years, a Chief Minister is fighting elections. The Chief Ministers of SP-BSP because of fear and superstition did not even visit Noida, let alone fight the elections. For them, their clan is Uttar Pradesh, and for us, Uttar Pradesh is our clan." 

UP elections

Elections in UP will be conducted in 7 phases. While the first phase of the Election will be held on February 10, voting for the second, third, fourth and fifth phases will take place on February 10, 14, 20 23, and 27 respectively. The sixth phase will see voting on March 3 while the voting for the seventh phase will be held on March 7. The counting of votes for all the phases will take place on March 10. 

BJP has announced that it will fight along with allies Nishad Party and  Apna Dal (S) under the leadership of CM Yogi Adityanath. On the other hand, SP has refused to ally with big parties like Congress or BSP, opting to ally with smaller parties like  Mahan Dal, NCP, SBSP, RLD, PSPL and has kept his doors open for AIMIM, AAP. BSP chief Mayawati has already announced that her party will fight polls alone in UP and Uttarakhand while allying only with Akali Dal in Punjab. Congress has aggressively campaigned under the leadership of Priyanka Gandhi in the state, eyeing its solo return. AIMIM has announced it will contest on 100 seats.

As per the Republic-P MARQ opinion polI, in spite of SP, BSP, Congress trying their best, as per the predictions, BJP is all set for a clean sweep in Uttar Pradesh. BJP+ is likely to retain power with the party projected to win 252-272 seats in the 403-member Assembly. On the other hand, SP+ is looking to bag 111-131 seats. Other parties are likely to have small gains. BSP is likely to bag 8 - 16, Congress 3-9 and others 0-4 seats.