Lucknow: Eyeing to oust the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from power, the Samajwadi Party has released its list of 30 star campaigners for the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.


Samajwadi Party patron Mulayam Singh Yadav, party chief Akhilesh Yadav and new entrant Swami Prasad Maurya figure in this list of star campaigners.


Samajwadi Party national vice-president Kiranmay Nanda, principal general secretary Ramgopal Yadav, Rajya Sabha MP Jaya Bachchan, the party’s Uttar Pradesh unit chief Naresh Uttam Patel and the leader of opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Ramgobind Chaudhary are among the other prominent star campaigners, PTI reported.


Samajwadi Party national executive member Javed Ali Khan and Samajwadi Yuvjan Sabha president Mohammad Fahad have also been named in the list of 30 star campaigners.


Dara Singh Chauhan and Dharam Singh Saini, who quit as ministers from the BJP to join the Samajwadi Party have, however, not been included.


Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Ahmed Hasan and the party’s Maharashtra unit chief Abu Asim Azmi have also not been named in this list.


Besides, senior party leader Azam Khan, who is currently lodged in jail, is also not included in the list of star campaigners.


Voting for the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly will be held in seven phases from February 10 to March 7.


Polling will be held in 58 assembly constituencies spread over 11 districts, including Shamli, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Hapur, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Mathura and Agra, in the first phase on February 10.


The counting of votes will be held on March 10.