FIRST PHASE OF UP POLLS TOMORROW

Campaigning for the first phase of the highstake UP Assembly elections ended on Thursday in 73 constituencies spread over 15 districts.

Polling in these constituencies will be held on Saturday. The saffron brigade was led by none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi who hopped from one venue to another in a race against time.

As the road to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections leads from western UP which goes to polls in the first phase on Saturday, major political parties wait with a bated breath to watch the beginning of a trend that is likely to have a rippling effect on the rest of the phases.

The first phase of polling, which is spread across 73 Assembly seats, in 15 districts, are extremely crucial for the BJP. Though the BJP had won only 12 seats in this phase in 2012, it is hoping for major gains due to polarisation of voters on ‘communal lines’.

The BJP which looks ready to sweep the polls in the first phase is now decidedly uncomfortable and the main reason for this is the shift of Jat votes to the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) on the issue of reservation.

Sources said the BJP has been attempting to polarise votes on communal lines and revive the mood of the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots but issues like triple talaq, Hindu migration and temple talk have consolidated Muslims against the BJP, rather than Hindus in favour of BJP.

The revival of the RLD in western Uttar Pradesh has turned the electoral battle into a four-cornered contest with BJP facing BSP, RLD and the Congress-SP alliance.

This party which had won only nine seats in the 2012 polls in this phase could emerge as a dark horse since the party has fielded rebels from various parties and most of them wield considerable clout in their respective constituencies.