In Uttar Pradesh, NDA in for a fight in over two dozen constituencies

As voting concludes in the Lok Sabha elections on Saturday, one of the crucial states in focus will be Uttar Pradesh. The outcome in UP will be key to the “400 paar” target the BJP has set for the NDA’s return.

But the ruling alliance appears to be in a close fight in at least 27 constituencies – in west, central, and east UP – of which 20 are among the 64 seats that the NDA won in 2019. The reasons for this vary from local sentiments against sitting MPs, caste equations, and the choice of candidates of the Opposition INDIA bloc.

The 20 constituencies that the NDA currently holds and where it faces a tough fight from the INDIA bloc are: Ayodhya, Chandauli, Bansgaon, Kheri, Pratapgarh, Kairana, Aligarh, Fatehpur Sikri, Firozabad, Pilibhit, Mohanlalganj, Amethi, Kannauj, Kaushambi, Allahabad, Barabanki, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Azamgarh, and Badaun. Of these constituencies, the ruling alliance changed candidates in Pilibhit, Barabanki, Firozabad, Allahabad, Robertsganj, and Badaun. 

According to local BJP leaders, candidates in constituencies such as Ayodhya, Amethi, Kheri, Azamgarh, Kaushambi, Fatehpur Sikri, and Pratapgarh have also had to deal with their own workers. “They listened to only a few of their close aides,” said a state BJP leader who did not wish to be named. 

State BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said, “We have a close fight in around 11 seats such as Kannauj, Azamgarh, Badaun, Ghazipur, and Ghosi, but we will come out victorious. Three to four rounds of counting (on results day) will clear the picture.”

The most common complaint against most of these MPs is that they were not as visible in their constituency as voters and workers wished or did not venture out of the district headquarters and met only the