As Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi hit the streets, Mayawati stays home

VARANASI: The SP-Congress alliance intensified its campaigning for the 40 seats in east UP which will go to polls on March 8. The three Naxalaffected districts of Sonebhadra, Mirzapur and Chandauli, along with the assembly segments under Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency, will be in prime focus in this phase.

While Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi held election meetings in Sonbhadra, Mirzapur and Jaunpur districts on Sunday, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav was busy campaigning for SP candidates in Sonbhadra, Chandauli and Mirzapur districts. Both Gandhi and Yadav targeted PM Modi at their meetings.

Meanwhile, BSP national president Mayawati’s tour programme came to an end on Sunday and she stayed at her residence in Lucknow. “She has touched every part of the state. She is busy monitoring preparation for the counting of votes at different centres across the state,” a leader close to the BSP chief told ET.

In a press release, Mayawati urged the EC to “look into the road show held by PM Modi as it violated the model code of conduct”. In a separate press release, issued by the BSP, Mayawati said the party was confident after the sixth phase of polling.

The counting of votes polled in all the seven phases of the assembly polls will be taken up on March 11. A total of 1.41 crore voters, including 64.76 lakh females, will exercise their franchise in the last phase. A total of 14,458 polling booths have been set up in this phase. In the 2012 polls, out of these 40 seats, 23 went to SP, 5 to BSP, 4 to BJP, 3 to Congress and 5 to others.