UP poll battle enters crucial phase: Amethi, Rae Bareli, Lucknow to vote tomorrow

With 49 Lok Sabha seats across six states and two Union Territories set to vote in the fifth phase on Monday, the focus is on the 14 constituencies in the crucial battleground of Uttar Pradesh.

There are 144 candidates in the fray, including bigwigs such as Union Ministers Smriti Irani (Amethi) and Rajnath Singh (Lucknow), and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi (Rae Bareli). Faizabad, which shot into the limelight after the Ram Temple consecration as Ayodhya falls under it, will also go to the polls and will see BJP’s Lallu Singh attempt to retain the constituency for a third straight term.

Other seats that go to the polls include Mohanlalganj, Barabanki, Kaiserganj, Hamirpur, Banda, Fatehpur, Jhansi, Jalaun, Kaushambi, and Gonda. The BJP won 13 of these 14 seats, losing only Rae Bareli.

Among the constituencies that will be closely watched are Kaiserganj, where the BJP dropped incumbent MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh who has faced sexual harassment allegations, and Rae Bareli, where Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is in the fray after his mother Sonia Gandhi chose to move to the Rajya Sabha.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister Amit Shah, who extensively campaigned in neighbouring Ayodhya, chose to skip Kaiserganj even as Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath addressed a rally in the Payagpur area of the constituency on May 12. Brij Bhushan, however, was conspicuous by his absence and also did not find a mention in Adityanath’s address.

Both the BJP and the Opposition INDIA bloc aggressively campaigned in the state, with Modi holding four rallies a day while Rahul and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav held at least two joint rallies daily in the run-up to the fifth phase.

Meanwhile, apart from Irani and Rajnath, the