UP polls 2017: Here's a look at political heavyweights in phase 7

Image courtesy: ECI)

New Delhi: The last phase of polling in the politically important Uttar Pradesh, phase 7, will take place on March 8 and with this, the long election battle in the state will finally come to an end. The result will be out on March 11. The polling will take place in Ghazipur (7), Varanasi (8), Chandauli (5), Mirzapur (4), Bhadohi (3), Sonbhadra (4) and Jaunpur (9); 40 assembly constituencies in total. Here is a list of political heavyweights who will lock their horns in the last and 7th phase of UP polls 2017: 1) Neelkanth Tiwari (Varanasi South) Neelkanth Tiwari is BJP's candidate from Varanasi South. Tiwari, a first-timer, is an advocate pitted against Congress veteran Rajesh Mishra, a former Varanasi MP. Tiwari is given ticket by sidelining, Shyamdev Roy Chaudhari (Dada) who was a member of BJP representing Varanasi South assembly for seven times, since 1989 and is also known as Dada in Varanasi. ALSO READ: Unhappy over cancellation of ticket, BJP leader Shyamdev Roy Chaudhari asks party what's his fault? 2) Ravindra Jaiswal (Varanasi North) Ravindra Jaiswal is BJP's candidate from Varanasi North. He is a member of the 16th Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh. Ravindra Jaiswal was born in Varanasi in 1966. Jaiswal holds Bachelor of Laws & Master of Commerce from Veer Bahadur Singh Purvanchal University. Prior to entering politics, he was a lawyer by profession. Ravindra Jaiswal has been a MLA for one term. Jaiswal represents Varanasi North constituency and is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). 3) Saurabh srivastava (Varanasi cantt) Saurabh srivastava is BJP's candidate from Varanasi cantt area. Sitting MLA Jyotsana Srivastav has been compensated by giving the seat to Saurabh Srivastava from Varanasi Cantt. 4) Anil Srivastava (Varanasi cantt) Anil Srivastava is Congress' candidate from Varanasi cantt. He is the district president of the Indian National Congress (INC), Varanasi. He ran a state level campaign, in UP to save student unions in the reign of Veer Bhadra Singh. He is a prominent figure in the campaign of UP Assembly elections and party always value him as an observer in all the student organization elections not only in the state but also for Delhi University Student Union (DUSU). 5) Nadeem Javed (Jaunpur) Congress’ Nadeem Javed will fight for votes from BJP’s Girish Chandra Yadav. Nadeem Javed is top Congressman in East Uttar Pradesh. The first-time Jaunpur City MLA Javed stunned everyone in the year 2012 by winning the seat after securing nearly 51,000 votes and beating Samajwadi Party’s sitting MLA amid an SP wave. 6) Ratnakar Mishra (Mirzapur) Image courtesy: Facebook From Mirzapur's Sadar seat, for the first time, a teerth purohit (pilgrim priest) is contesting elections and is fielded by Bharatiya Janata Party. The candidate Ratnakar Mishra is no less than the party's chief priest, having performed religious ceremonies for all top guns in BJP. 58-year-old Mishra is said to have performed special pujas for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure his victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. His importance in the party is evident from the fact that he was a special invitee at the PM's swearing in ceremony. 7) Sangeeta Balwant Bind (Ghazipur) The BJP has fielded Sangeeta Balwant Bind from Ghazipur. BJP has fielded prominent non-Yadav OBC face Balwant in a last-ditch effort to garner backward votes. 8) Abdul Samad Ansari (Varanasi north) In Varanasi North, Muslims are in substantial numbers and have rallied around the Samajwadi Party-Congress candidate and former MLA Abdul Samad Ansari. Ravindra Jaisawal of the BJP had won from here by a narrow margin and the combined votes of the two alliance partners has made matters difficult for him. Total Electors in the 7th phase: Male- 7687816 Female- 6499711 Third Gender- 706 Total 14188233