New Delhi: Voting for the third phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections and single-phase Punjab polls will take place on Sunday (February 20).
While 16 districts will vote in UP in the third phase, Punjab is set to witness polling on all its 117 Assembly seats. Here’s everything you need to know about these polls:
Punjab Assembly polls
The single-phase election in Punjab will seal the fate of 1,304 candidates, including 93 women. As many as 2,14,99,804 voters, including 1,02,00,996 women will cast the vote from 8 am till 6 pm. There are 24,740 polling stations, of which 2,013 have been identified as critical, an official was cited by PTI. In Punjab’s multi-cornered fight, Congress, AAP, SAD-BSP alliance, BJP-PLC-SAD (Sanyukt) are the main players in the fray.
Key candidates
Charanjit Singh Channi, Constituency: Chamkaur Sahib (SC) and Bhadaur
Incumbent CM Charanjit Singh Channi, declared as Congress’ Chief Ministerial candidate, is contesting from two seats. He was chosen for the top job last year after the exit of Amarinder Singh.
Navjot Singh Sidhu, Constituency: Amritsar East
Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu is fighting from the Amritsar East assembly constituency, where he is challenged by senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia.
Captain Amarinder Singh, Patiala
Former Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh is fighting the polls on his new party Punjab Lok Congress’ symbol. Singh has forged an alliance with BJP and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa’s Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt) for these high-stake polls.
Bhagwant Mann, Dhuri
Comedian-turned-politician Bhagwant Mann is the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP’s) CM face in the Punjab Assembly elections. He is a two-time MP since 2014 from the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat.
Sukhbir Singh Badal, Jalalabad
Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Sigh Badal is currently an MP from the Ferozpur constituency. Known as ‘Junior Badal’ in Punjab politics, he is the CM face of his party.
2017 Assembly results
In the 2017 Punjab Assembly polls, the Congress had swept 77 seats, thus ending the SAD-BJP combine’s 10-year-regime.
Third phase polling in Uttar Pradesh
Voting will be held for 59 assembly constituencies spread across 16 districts of Uttar Pradesh in the third phase of the polls.
Hathras, Firozabad, Etah, Kasganj, Mainpuri, Farrukhabad, Kannauj, Etawah, Auraiya, Kanpur Dehat, Kanpur Nagar, Jalaun, Jhansi, Lalitpur, Hamirpur and Mahoba are the districts slated to vote on Sunday.
Over 2.15 crore voters will decide the fate of 627 candidates in the fray. The polling will commence at 7 am on Sunday and continue till 6 pm.
Key candidates
Akhilesh Yadav
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is contesting his first assembly elections from the Karhal Assembly seat. The BJP has fielded Union minister SP Singh Baghel against the former UP CM.
Asim Arun
The BJP has given a ticket to policeman-turned politician Asim Arun from the Kannauj Sadar seat. The former Kanpur Police Commissioner had taken a VRS to contest UP polls.
Satish Mahana
Satish Mahana, the Minister of Industrial Development in the Yogi Adityanath Government and a seven-time MLA from Kanpur Cantt, is contesting from the Maharajpur seat in the Kanpur district.
Neelima Katiyar
Neelima Katiyar, the State Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology has been given a ticket by BJP from Kanpur’s Kalyanpur seat.
Louise Khurshid
Louise Khurshid, the wife of senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid, has been fielded by Congress from Farrukhabad Sadar.
2017 Assembly results
In the 2017 elections, the BJP had bagged 49 of the 59 seats while the SP could manage only nine. The Congress won only one seat, while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) failed to secure any.
(With agency inputs)
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