Final poll phase: Curtains down on nominations; all eyes now on June 1

With three of its allies on board, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) is looking for complete dominance over the 13 Lok Sabha seats, situated in eastern Uttar Pradesh, going to polls in the seventh and final phase on June 1.

The seventh phase of polling in the Purvanchal region is crucial for the BJP since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s turf Varanasi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath stronghold Gorakhpur will be put to the test. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the BJP bagged 11 seats and the Bahujan Samaj Party the remaining two. The Samajwadi Party and the Congress failed to open their accounts there.

The nomination filing for all 13 constituencies — Varanasi, Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria, Bansgaon (SC), Ghosi, Salempur, Ballia, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Mirzapur and Robertsganj (SC) — concluded on Tuesday with a mega show of strength by the BJP in Varanasi where Modi filed his papers in the presence of top party leaders, Union ministers and chief ministers of BJP and NDA-ruled states.

The party is contesting the elections in the state with Om Prakash Rajbhar-led Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP), Sanjay Nishad-led Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (NISHAD) party and Anupriya Patel-led Apna Dal (S).

In 2019, the BJP won Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria, Bansgaon, Salempur, Ballia, Chandauli and Varanasi while its ally Apna Dal (S) bagged Mirzapur and Robertsganj. The BSP, which had contested the elections in alliance with the SP, wrested Ghosi and Ghazipur from the BJP (it had won them in 2014).

The SP, meanwhile, has since reworked its strategy by joining hands with the Congress. The INDIA bloc is working on the OBC-Muslim factor to breach the saffron fort. While the SP has fielded its candidates on eight seats — Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Ghosi, Salempur, Ballia, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Mirzapur and Robertsganj—the Congress’ candidates will be representing the opposition alliance in Maharajagnaj, Deoria, Bansgaon and Varanasi.

The BSP, meanwhile, has decided to go solo. Confident of its hold over the Dalit-Jatav population, it plans to make a dent in the BJP’s and SP’s support bases by fielding upper caste, Muslim and OBC candidates on various seats.

Who’s contesting from where

The BJP wants a bigger victory margin for PM Modi this time. In 2019, Modi won by a landslide getting 63% of the total votes. His nearest rival Shalini Yadav of the SP polled 18.4% votes. The SP-Congress alliance has fielded UP Congress Committee president Ajay Rai from the seat.

In Maharajganj, Union minister Pankaj Chaudhary is in the fray and is seeking a victory for a record seventh term. The Congress has fielded the party’s sitting MLA from Pharenda Virendra Chaudhary.

In Gorakhpur, the BJP has reposed its faith in actor-politician Ravi Kishan. It is the home turf of chief minister Adityanath. Kishan is pitted against Kajal Nishad of the SP and Javed Simnanni of the BSP. In Kushinagar, the BJP has fielded sitting MP Vijay Dubey while the SP has picked Ajay Pratap Singh alias Pintu Sainthwar and the BSP Subh Narayan Chauhan.

In Bansgaon (reserved), the BJP has fielded three-term MP Kamlesh Paswan. The Congress has given ticket to BSP turncoat Sadal Prasad while the BSP has fielded Ram Samujh.

In Ghosi, Arvind Rajbhar, the son of Om Prakash Rajbhar, is in the fray. An ally of the NDA, Rajbhar is banking on its OBC-upper caste formula to win the election. The SP has picked upper caste candidate Rajeev Rai while Bal Krishan Chauhan will contest on BSP ticket. In 2019, BSP candidate Atul Rai won the election against BJP’s Harinarayan.

Ravindra Kushwaha of the BJP is in the fray from Salempur and is seeking a third term in parliament this time. The SP has fielded BSP-turncoat Ram Shankar Rajbhar while the BSP has fielded its former state unit president Bhim Rajbhar.

In Ballia, the BJP has fielded Neeraj Shekhar, the son of former PM Chandra Shekhar, who had represented the seat for a total of six terms. It denied ticket to sitting MP Virendra Singh Mast. The SP has fielded Sanatan Pandey while the BSP has fielded Lallan Singh Yadav.

In Ghazipur, the SP has fielded sitting BSP MP Afzal Ansari, the elder brother of gangster-turned-politician late Mukhtar Ansari. In 2019, Afzal defeated BJP candidate Manoj Sinha, the lieutenant governor of Jammu and Kashmir. The BSP has fielded Umesh Kumar Singh.

In Chandauli, the BJP has pitted Union minister Mahendra Nath Pandey against Virendra Singh of the SP and Satyendra Kumar Maurya of the BSP.

NDA ally Apna Dal (S) chief and Union minister Anupriya Patel is seeking a third term from Mirzapur. She has been pitted against BJP turncoat Ramesh Bind and BSP’s Manish Tripathi.

On the SC-ST-dominated Robertsganj, the Apna Dal (S) has fielded Rinki Kol against Chote Lal Kharwar of the SP and Dhaneshwar Gautam of the BSP.