In BJP's first list for UP polls, Yogi Adityanath to contest from Gorakhpur; 44 OBC, 19 SC names among 107 candidates

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will be contesting from Gorakhpur in the upcoming Assembly polls, the BJP announced on Saturday while releasing its first list of candidates. The party has named candidates for the seats going to the polls in the first two phases. Deputy Chief Minister  Keshav Prasad Maurya will contest the polls from Sirathu city in the Prayagraj district. The  second list for polls will be released shortly, said Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan. “The decision has been made after much deliberation… the final decision (was taken) by the top leadership of the party,” Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told reporters. There was speculation earlier that the chief minister — who has never stood in an Assembly election before — would contest from one of two temple towns — Ayodhya or Mathura. While there was speculation that Adityanath may be fielded from Ayodhya, Pradhan said the party decided to put him in the fray from Gorakhpur, his traditional political turf which he has represented in Lok Sabha for five consecutive terms. Asked about the issue, Pradhan said the chief minister was willing to contest from any of the 403 seats in the state. This is the first time Adityanath will contest Assembly polls. Gorakhpur is Adityanath’s stronghold and has voted him to the Lok Sabha for five straight terms till 2017. This is for the first time the chief minister will contest Assembly polls, though he was a Lok Sabha MP from Gorakhpur for five consecutive terms from 1998 to 2017. Polling for the Gorakhpur (Urban) seat will be on 3 March — the sixth and penultimate phase. The Gorakhpur seat is considered to be a stronghold of the Gorakhnath Math, whose present Chief Priest is Yogi Adityanath. Currently, this seat belongs to BJP candidate Radha Mohan Das Agarwal.

First List of BJP Candidate for Uttar Pradesh Polls by Manasi Chandu on Scribd

44 OBC, 19 SC names among 107 candidates The list was released by the BJP’s Uttar Pradesh in-charge and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan along with the party general secretary Arun Singh during a press conference at the party’s headquarters here. The BJP is currently facing internal dissidence after 10 of its Uttar Pradesh MLAs, including three ministers, walked out of the Yogi Adityanath government this week. Except for Adityanath and Maurya, all the names are for 105 of the 113 seats which will go to the polls in the first two phases on10 and 14 February, with 44 of them hailing from Other Backward Classes and 19 Scheduled Castes, accounting for 60 per cent of the total. Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan told reporters the list has 63 sitting MLAs, including ministers such as Suresh Khanna, Suresh Rana and Shrikant Sharma, while 20 have made way for others. Former Uttarakhand governor and now BJP vice-president Baby Rani Maurya, a Dalit, has been fielded from Agra (rural). Pankaj Singh, the son of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, will again contest from Noida seat. With the Jat-concentrated region going to the polls in the first two phases, the agrarian community, which was at the forefront of the agitation in western Uttar Pradesh against three contentious farm laws, has got 16 seats, sources said. Of the 43 seats from where general castes members have been fielded by the BJP, sources noted that 18 are Thakurs, 10 Brahmins and eight Vaishya. Among the 19 SC candidates in the BJP’s first list, 13 are Jatavs, who make up for more than half of the total Dalit population. The move is seen as a major push by the party to win the support of a section of the community which has been a traditional base of the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party. Some of the seats where polling will be held in the first two phases and for which the BJP did not name its candidates on Saturday will go the allies. Highlighting the BJP’s outreach to marginalized communities, Pradhan said the party has fielded a Dalit candidate from a general category seat and will name more of them from unreserved seats in its coming lists for the Uttar Pradesh polls. The BJP had contested the 2017 Assembly polls on the plank of fighting corruption and restoring law and order in the state, and the Yogi Adityanath government has done so, Pradhan, who was joined by BJP general secretary Arun Singh, said. The state is now riot-free, he claimed, adding a lot of development works, including the establishment of colleges and highways, have taken place under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Uttar Pradesh now ranks high in the list of the beneficiaries of the Modi government’s housing scheme, free cooking gas cylinder programme and Ayushman Bharat, he said. BJP president JP Nadda said every BJP worker has worked round the clock for people and the party is committed to the progress of every section of society in the state. “I am confident that every BJP candidate will emerge victorious with a big majority with people’s blessings and support,” he said. Elections for the 403-member Uttar Pradesh assembly are scheduled to be held in seven phases starting from 10 February. UP polls Uttar Pradesh, what is considered to be the country’s politically vital state, votes  from 10 February  in seven rounds in an election widely, which is being considered as a precursor to the national elections of 2024. The results will be declared on 10 March. In the 2017 Assembly elections, the BJP scored a comprehensive victory in Uttar Pradesh. Winning 312 of 403 seats, the saffron party left its competitors far behind to score its biggest victory in this crucial state of the Hindi belt. In terms of the vote share data, the BJP polled at 39.7 percent, followed by the BSP with 22.2 percent and SP 21.8 percent. Congress could get only 6.3 percent (over 54 lakh votes). Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.