Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party on Sunday (March 24) released a list of 16 candidates out of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh.
The party has so far announced the candidates of Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnaur, Nagina (SC), Muradabad, Rampur, Sambhal, Amroha, Meerut, Baghpat and other seats.
Check full list of BSP candidates:
- Saharanpur: Majid Ali
- Kairana: Shripal Singh
- Muzaffarnagar: Dara Singh Prajapati
- Bijnaur: Vijendra Singh
- Nagina (SC): Surendra Singh Pal
- Muradabad: Md Irfan Saifi
- Rampur: Zeeshan Khan
- Sambhal: Shaulat Ali
- Amroha: Mujahid Hussian
- Meerut: Devvrit Tyagi
- Baghpat: Praveen Bansal
- Gautam Buddha Nagar: Rajendra Singh Solanki
- Bulandshahr (SC): Girish Chandra Jatav
- Aonla: Aabid Ali
- Pilibhit: Anees Ahmed Khan
- Shahjahanpur (SC): Daudram Verma
The party has fielded seven Muslim candidates out of the 16 it has fielded in the polls so far. Notably, BSP is not a part of any alliance -- whether NDA or I.N.D.I.A -- which may result in the division of votes in such constituencies in the Lok Sabha polls.
Breakdown and analysis of seats
There are seven Muslim candidates in Mayawati's first list in the Lok Sabha elections. These candidates may harm the I.N.D.IA bloc’s prospects in the constituencies. Mayawati has fielded Muslim candidates on seven seats in Western Uttar Pradesh. There are more than 50 per cent Muslim votes in Rampur (50.57 per cent), more than 47 per cent in Moradabad (47.12 per cent), 45 per cent in Sambhal, 42 per cent in Saharanpur and about 38 per cent in Amroha.
Mayawati has fielded Majid Ali from Saharanpur. Congress has fielded Imran Masood in the seat. Saharanpur seat was won by BSP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. BSP was then in alliance with Samajwadi Party.
BSP ticket from Moradabad has been given to Mohammad Irfan Saifi, while Samajwadi Party has made ST Hasan its candidate. Hasan had won from SP in the 2019 elections.
Mayawati has made Zeeshan Khan the candidate from Rampur. SP has not yet announced its candidate here. Azam Khan had won from here in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections but in the subsequent by-elections, BJP taken over this seat from Samajwadi Party.
BSP has made Shaulat Ali its candidate from Sambhal. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Sambhal seat was won by Samajwadi Party's Shafiqur Rahman. Now after the demise of Rahman, his grandson, Zia ur Rehman is the candidate of SP.
BSP candidate from Amroha will be Mujahid Hussain. Congress has fielded Danish Ali as its candidate in the seat. Danish Ali won the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on the BSP ticket. Recently Danish Ali joined Congress.
Mayawati has made Anees Ahmed Khan the candidate from Pilibhit. Samajwadi Party has made Bhagwat Singh Gangwar the candidate here.
In western Uttar Pradesh, there are Dalit votes along with Muslim votes but there is no Yadav vote. Jayant Chaudhary has joined hands with the BJP ahead of the polls. Akhilesh Yadav and Congress are eyeing Muslim votes. However, due to Mayawati fielding Muslim candidates, there are chances of Muslim vote getting divided, which may cause impact I.N.D.I.A bloc’s prospects in the region.
Uttar Pradesh is among the states which will vote in all seven phases of the general elections.
Check phases and constituency-wise polling dates
First phase (April 19):
Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Nagina, Moradabad, Rampur and Pilibhit.
Second phase (April 26):
Amroha, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Bulandshahr, Aligarh and Mathura.
Third phase (May 7):
Sambhal, Hathras, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etah, Badaun, Aonla and Bareilly.
Fourth phase (May 13):
Shahjahanpur, Kheri, Dhaurahra, Sitapur, Hardoi, Misrikh, Unnao, Farrukhabad, Etawah, Kannauj, Kanpur, Akbarpur and Bahraich.
Fifth phase (May 20):
Mohanlalganj, Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Amethi, Jalaun, Jhansi, Hamirpur, Banda, Fatehpur, Kaushambi, Barabanki, Faizabad, Kaiserganj and Gonda.
Sixth phase (May 25):
Sultanpur, Pratapgarh, Phulpur, Allahabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Shrawasti, Basti, Domariyaganj, Sant Kabir Nagar, Lalganj, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Bhadohi and Machhlishahr.
Seventh and final phase (June 1):
Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushi Nagar, Deoria, Bansgaon, Ghosi, Salempur, Ballia, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Mirzapur, Robertsganj.
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