The BJP on Saturday released its list of 107 candidates for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, fielding Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath from Gorakhpur Urban seat, a decision that put to rest speculation he may contest from Ayodhya, as the five-time Lok Sabha MP enters the state poll fray for the first time from his home turf. Naming 60 per cent OBC candidates in the list, the BJP aims to counter rivals’ OBC pitch after the Samajwadi Party(SP) accused it of being anti-backward castes, the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) also chose Keshav Prasad Maurya, one of the two deputy chief ministers, from his birthplace Sirathu in Kaushambi district.
While there is no official word from the BJP on the Ayodhya seat speculation, its decision to not field Adityanath from the temple town but from Gorakhpur may have something to do with the ruling party’s caution against its rivals’ efforts to define the polls as a battle between ‘mandal'(pro-backward castes politics )and ‘kamandal'(Hindutva politics). Construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya is underway in full swing.
Asim Arun, the former IPS officer who was posted as Commissioner of Kanpur Police before taking Voluntary Retirement recently, has joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today. News18 quoted sources saying that the party might field Arun from Kannauj.
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi has written a letter to the Election Commission, urging it to postpone the assembly polls in the state by “at least six days” in view of the Ravidas Jayanti.
BJP – 107
Congress – 125
BSP – 55
SP-RLD alliance – 36
The UP polls have turned into a prestige battle between the BJP and Samajwadi Party. While poll surveys have predicted a victory for the BJP, the recent series of defections from the ruling party to the rival camp could amply change the poll outcome on March 10.
