In a multi-party contest, political parties with varied strategies and tall promises are reaching out to people in Agra to win over nine constituencies in the district which heads into polling in the first phase of the seven-phase Uttar Pradesh Assembly election.
The Samajwadi Party has allied with Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) to fight for the Dalit stronghold, comprising 21 per cent of total voters in Agra.
In 2007, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) bagged six out of nine seats in the district. In 2017, Hemlata Diwakar of BJP won against BSP's Kalicharan Suman with a margin of over 60,000 votes.
In the sixteenth legislative assembly, the Samajwadi Party (SP) won by securing a comfortable majority of 224 in a house of 403 outperforming the ruling BSP.
In the ensuing first phase of elections to be held on February 10, the RLD and the SP have formed an alliance vouching on an overwhelming performance in 403 Assembly seats.
RLD and Apna Dal separately won just one single seat in 2017, while BJP had a landslide victory by winning 312 seats.
The total number of eligible voters in the UP Assembly elections is 15.06 crore. Out of a total of 34.61 lakh voters, Agra accounts for an increase of 2.17 lakh voters within five years.
The district widely known as 'Tajnagri' will see 38,640 first-time voters among which more than 18,000 are female voters whereas more than 20,000 are male voters. As many as 17,952 differently-abled will also exercise their right to vote this time.
In Uttar Pradesh, elections will be held in 403 assembly seats in seven phases from February 10 to March 7.
In Phase 1, 58 assembly constituencies will go for polling. Votes will be counted on March 10.
(With inputs from ANI)
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