With the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections currently underway across 96 parliamentary constiteuncies across 10 states and one Union Territory, the fate of key candidates including Samajawadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Bharatiya Janata Party's Subrat Pathak, and BSP's Ashok Pandey, among others, will also be lcoked today as 13 Lok Sabha constituencies are under polling in Uttar Pradesh today.


These 13 constituencies include Akbarpur, Hardoi (SC), Etawah (SC), Kanpur, Dhaurhara, Mishrikh (SC), Farrukhabad, Shahjahpur (SC), Sitapur, Kheri, Unnao, Kannauj, and Bahraich (SC).


After the conclusion of the fourth phase, 39 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats will have voted in the state. The seven-phase poll will conclude on June 1 with the votes to be counted on June 4.


Kannauj


All eyes are set on one of the most crucial seat in Uttar Pradesh, where Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is contesting against sitting BJP MP Subrat Pathak, to re-claim his lost fort.


In 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Pathak defeated Akhilesh Yadav's wife Dimple Yadav, thereby claiming the seat for the saffron camp.


Kannauj has been Samajwadi Party's stronghold from 1998 to 2019, from where Akhilesh Yadav made his political debut in the year 2000. 


The Bahujan Samaj Party has fielded Imran Bin Zafar from Kannauj.


Shahjahanpur (SC)


Famously known as the land of freedom fighters, Shahjahanpur is an SC seat, where it will be interesting to see if BJP would be able to retain the seat, it wrested in 2014 and 2019. BJP has fielded sitting MP Arun Kumar Sagar once again from the seat, while SP has replaced its candidate with Jyotsana Gond instead of Rajesh Kashyap.


The sitting MLA from the seat is UP Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna, who launched multiple projects in the constituecy and is also involved in overseeing the party's election campaigning in the state.


The BSP has nominated Dod Ram Verma from the seat. 


Akbarpur


In Akbarpur, the saffron party has fielded sitting MP Devendra Singh Bhole, who is vying for a third term. Bhole is competing against SP’s Raja Ram Pal and the BSP’s Rajesh Kumar Dwivedi.


Dhaurhara


Rekha Verma, who is two-term MP and party national vice president has been fielded by the BJP. SP has, on the other hand, chosen Anand Bhadouria, who is former students’ union leader of Lucknow University and an upper caste Rajput.


Bhadouria, was also a member of the state legislative council.


The BSP has fielded Shyam Kishore Awasth, a Brahmin candidate, from Dhaurhara. 



Hardoi (SC)


The Bharatiya Janata Party has re-nominated the sitting MP Jai Parkash Rawat against SP's candidate former MP Usha Verma.


Meanwhile, the BSP has fielded former MLC Bhimrao Ambedkar.


In 2019, BJP's Rawat won the seat, securing 568143 votes against SP's Usha Verma, who lost by 132474 votes.


Kheri


Kheri Lok Sabha constituency was in the limelight following the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case in October, 2021, which claimed the lives of eight people, including four farmers.


The probe found Ashish Mishra, son of two-term BJP MP and Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni as the key accused.


However, the saffron party has fielded Teni again who is vying for a third term against SP's Utkarsh Verma. The development came after three-term MP Ravi Prakash Verma resigned to join Congress.


In a bid to cash in on the anger among the farmers, BSP has fielded a Sikh candidate Anshya Kalra.


Sitapur


In Sitapur, the BJP has nominated sitting MP Rajesh Verma, who is pitted against the Congress party candidate Rakesh Rathore, while the BSP has nominated Mahendra Yadav. Both Congress and BSP candidates had defected from the BJP in the quest for a Lok Sabha ticket.


Misrikh (SC)


The Bharataiya Janata Party has fielded sitting MP Ashok Kumar Rawat against the Samajwadi Party leader Sangeeta Rajvanshi, who is the relative of the BJP MP from Misrikh. Samajwadi Party had changed its candidate four times before finally announcing Rajvanshi as its official candidate form this Lok Sabha seat. The BSP has nominated BR Ahirwar to contest the seat against the BJP and SP candidates.


Unnao


In Unnao, the Samajwadi Party has pitted former MP Anu Tandon against the sitting MP BJP MP Swami Sakshi Maharaj. BSP has however fielded a Brahmin candidate Ashok Kumar Reddy.


Etawah (SC)





Against the SP candidate Jitendra Dohare, BJP has fielded former Union minister and sitting MP Ram Shankar Katheria to reclaim the seat of Etawah (SC). The BJP candidate won the Agra Lok Sabha seat in 2009 and 2014, followed by the Etawah seat in 2019 general elections.


Bahraich (SC)



In Bahraich, which is an SC seat, the BJP has replaced Akshaibair Lal Gond, who is the sitting MP, with his son Anand Gond. Anand will be contesting against the SP’s Ramesh Gautam, who is a former MLA. The BSP has fielded a Lucknow University faculty, Brijesh Kumar Sonkar from Bahraich.







Kanpur

 

Known as the "Manchester of the East," the Kanpur Lok Sabha seat is another crucial seat in UP, from where the BJP has fielded Ramesh Awasthi, replacing its sitting MP Satyadev Pachauri. The Congress has fielded Alok Mishra, while the BSP has chosen Kuldeep Bhadouria.

 

In 2019, Pachauri had wrested the Kanpur with a landslide victory, securing 468,937 votes against Congress's Sriprakash Jaiswal, who received 3,13,003 votes.




 

Farrukhabad





In Farrukhabad, the BJP has reposed faith in sitting MP Mukesh Rajput against SP candidate Naval Kishore Kashyap, to garner support of non- Yadav OBCs. 


The BSP, on the other hand, has fielded a Brahmin candidate named Kranti Pandey.


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