LUCKNOW : With Yadav land being the main battleground in Uttar Pradesh in phase-III, the Samajwadi Party is leaving no stone unturned to save its citadel from saffron onslaught, while the BJP is also creating a furore through its big fighters.
Mainpuri, Firozabad, Etah, Baduan, of Phase -III and Kannauj and Etawah, of next phase on May 13, are set for a fierce fight between the ruling party and the main opposition.
Meanwhile, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav himself is commanding the fort in Kannauj against sitting BJP MP Subrat Pathak.
While in Mainpuri, the SP chief’s wife Dimple Yadav is ready to carry Mulayam Singh Yadav’s legacy forward by challenging state tourism minister and BJP candidate Jaiveer Singh who is a sitting MLA from Mainpuri assembly segment.
Akshay Yadav, Akhilesh’s cousin and SP national general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav’s son, is again trying his fate from Firozabad seat, another bastion of SP against Vishwadeep Singh. Akshay had lost the seat to BJP’s Chandrasen Jadon in 2019.
In Badaun, the SP has put its stake in Aditya Yadav, another cousin of Akhilesh and son of Shivpal Yadav.
However, the BJP has reposed faith in a local RSS pracharak firebrand leader Durvijay Singh Shakya.
On the remaining two seats of the Yadav land, SP’s Devesh Shakya is challenging late Kaylan Singh’s son and sitting BJP MP Rajveer Singh in Etah and Jitendra Dohre is challenging BJP MP Ram Shankar Katheria in Etawah reserved seat.
In the 2019 elections, of the six seats in the region, the BJP had bagged five — Etah, Firozabad, Etawah, Badaun and Kannauj — while the SP could win only Mainpuri.
To repeat its 2019 performance, the BJP has launched an extensive campaign led by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and CM Yogi Adityanath.
“The BJP plans to pin down the SP in its stronghold by launching a hectic campaigns. The Yadav family’s defeat will pave the way for consolidation of the BJP support base in the Yadav land,” said a BJP leader.
All the Yadav family members — Akhilesh Yadav, Ram Gopal Yadav, Shivpal Yadav, Dharmendra Yadav, Dimple Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav are canvassing.
While Amit Shah and Yogi Adityanath have been targeting SP over dynastic politics and appeasement politics, Akhilesh Yadav is urging voters to exercise their franchise to dethrone the BJP and protect the Constitution.
Shivpal Yadav’s rebellion in 2019 weakened the SP in its stronghold. It could win just one seat in the elections.
With Shivpal back in the family fold, the SP hopes to regain the lost ground.
The OBCs, Dalits, Muslims and upper castes play a decisive role in deciding the fate of the candidates on the five seats.
On the other, the BSP has made the contest triangular on the five seats by fielding Shiv Prasad Yadav from Mainpuri, Mohammad Irfan from Etah, Chaudhary Bashir from Firozabad, Sarika Singh Baghel from Etawah and Imran Bin Zafar from Kannauj.