India Narrative

  As the voting for the penultimate round of the seven-phase polling in Uttar Pradesh gets underway, Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath contesting from Gorakhpur Urban seat makes his debut in the assembly elections. Yogi Adityanath who has contested Lok Sabha polls from Gorakhpur five times between 1994 to 2014 was elected to the UP Legislative Council after he took over as the Chief Minister of the state in 2017. Even as Yogi Adityanath's victory is being viewed as a foregone conclusion, all eyes are on the performance of the Bahujan Samaj Party in the sixth phase. The majority of the 57 seats going to polls today are dominated by the backwards caste besides Dalits and Muslims. BSP is expected to put up a strong fight in almost all the 10 districts which include Siddharthnagar, Kushinagar, Balrampur, Maharajganj, Sant Kabir Nagar, Basti, Ambedkar Nagar, Deoria, Ballia and Gorakhpur. Of the 19 seats, BSP won in the 2017 assembly elections, five were from this belt. The saffron spin d

With hours to go for the fourth phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh, all eyes are on Lakhimpur Kheri, which witnessed the mowing down of the protesting farmers allegedly by Ashish Mishra(Teni), son of the minister of state for Home, Ajay Mishra. The accused son's walking out of the jail after he secured bail had generated a massive political heat in the region.  In 2017, the BJP had won the Lakhimpur seat with a strong margin of over 36000 votes.  Stakes are high for both BJP and Union Minister, Ajay Mishra in this region. For the fourth phase, 624 candidates across 59 assembly constituencies are set to battle it out. Riding on the Modi wave in 2017, BJP had won 51 of 59 assembly seats in 2017. BJP ally, Apna Dal(S) had won one, four went to SP  while two seats were won by Congress and another two by the BSP. Also read:    Third phase of elections--tough for SP and a close fight in Punjab  The State Capital, Lucknow with nine assembly segments will also vote in this phase. Of the nin