BJP, SP and BSP vie for honour in 2nd phase UP polls
NEW DELHI, FEB 14: Voting is under away on Monday in all assembly seats in Goa and Uttarakhand, besides 55 constituencies at Uttar Pradesh in the second phase of the state polls, with chief ministers Pramod Sawant and Pushkar Singh Dhami, former CM Harish Rawat and jailed Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan among the prominent leaders in the fray.
It is a high-stakes election for the ruling BJP and a litmus test for the Modi government’s policies that the Congress, AAP and other opposition parties have targeted during their campaign.
The coastal state of Goa, with over 11 lakh voters, has 301 candidates contesting from 40 Assembly seats, while in Uttarakhand, which has an electorate of 81 lakh, 632 candidates, including 152 independents, are in the fray from 70 seats.
Traditionally the two states have seen bipolar politics, but they are witnessing a multi-cornered contest this time with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) throwing its hat in the ring.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) and other smaller parties are also vying to make a mark on Goa’s electoral scene.
In the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, as many as 586 candidates are in the fray from 55 seats in this phase spread across Saharanpur, Bijnor, Moradabad, Sambhal, Rampur, Amroha, Budaun, Bareilly and Shahjahanpur.
-NIE
