BJP decides candidates for 172 seats; CM Yogi Adityanath, Dy CM's constituencies finalised

Ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday finalised candidates for 172 seats in the state including the constituencies where Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya will be contesting. The meeting was held between senior UP leaders and attended by BJP president J P Nadda and Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari via video conferencing. Home Minister Amit Shah and several other leaders like CM Yogi Adityanath met physically.

Wider deliberations on the 172 assembly seats will register a bigger victory than the 2017 assembly polls, Dy CM Maurya said after the meeting. The seats which have been finalised are largely those which would be going to polls in the initial phases starting February 10, sources have revealed. 

While CM Yogi Adityanath was finalised from Ayodhya, Maurya is scheduled to lead the fight from the Sirathu constituency. Sources have also stated that the party is considering fielding Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma and state unit president Swatantra Dev Singh in the UP polls. Sharma may contest from one of the assembly constituencies in the state capital Lucknow. The first list of candidates is likely to be announced in the next few days. 

Yogi Adityanath to contest from Ayodhya

In a big political scoop, Republic's sources had confirmed on Wednesday that CM Yogi Adityanath will contest the 2022 assembly elections from Ayodhya. The confirmation comes days after the CM broke his silence on whether he would be stepping onto the political battlefield himself.

The CM has been a Member of Parliament from the Gorakhpur constituency for a whooping five consecutive terms since 1998.  This had fueled speculation that he may choose Gorakhpur as his assembly consistency. However, when it comes to Ayodhya, Yogi Adityanath has set his roots deep into the city of Ram. With the construction of the Ram Temple, a historic dream of the local citizens underway, choosing Ayodhya as his Assembly constituency could strongly work in his favour. Especially since the UP campaign is heavily banking on the fulfilment of one of BJP's biggest pre-poll promises- the construction of the temple. 

Uttar Pradesh will vote in 7 phases, between February 10 and March 7. The state's second to sixth rounds of polling is scheduled for February 14, 20, 23, 27, and March 3, respectively. The counting of votes and declaration of results is scheduled to happen on March 10.

(With agency inputs)