In fourth phase, BJP sits pretty in these 13 UP seats

The thirteen seats going to polls in Uttar Pradesh on Monday, the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections, include constituencies close to the Samajwadi Party’s heart. However, for the past two general elections, the BJP has won them all, barring Kannauj, which was in 2014 won by the SP’s Dimple Yadav.

While the BJP will be looking to repeat the feat, especially in the SP prestige seats of Kannauj and Etawah, another constituency where it will hope that its gambit – of repeating Ajay Mishra ‘Teni’ – pays off is Lakhimpur Kheri. The son of Teni, the Union Minister of State for Home, is accused in the killing of four people during a farmers’ protest in 2021. While the case is still on, Teni’s boss Union Minister of Home Amit Shah virtually promised at a recent public meeting that he would make Teni a ‘big man’ if he wins.

In the 13 seats – five of them reserved – Dalits and OBCs form the bulk of the vote bank, with Muslims too in good numbers.

The most prominent of the constituencies is Kannauj, where SP chiefAkhilesh Yadav is contesting for the fourth time, having won
consecutively in 2000, 2004 and 2009. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, apart from the Aam Aadmi Party’s Sanjay Singh, campaigned for Akhilesh in the last stretch.

Akhilesh is up against the BJP’s Subrat Pathak, who won in 2019 defeating Dimple Yadav, and the BSP’s Imran Bin Jafar. BJP leaders admitted that till Akhilesh’s entry at the last moment, replacing his nephew Tej Pratap, they had expected an easy win for Pathak again.

While the BSP’s decision to field Jafar may cost the SP some Muslim and Dalit votes – both in big numbers in the constituency – Akhilesh will attract a major chunk of them. He is also expected to get some votes of OBC groups such as the Pals,