Uttar Pradesh Election 2022 Date: After five eventful years, Uttar Pradesh is headed to assembly elections this year, and the dates have been announced. Having the biggest legislative assembly in India, the state of Uttar Pradesh has always been seen as a litmus test for the government in power or used as an indicator for the next Lok Sabha elections.


With the BJP, which is ruling the state, in power at the Centre for two terms, it is important to see how things look for it in the upcoming elections. It will be even more interesting to see how the stakes are for the grand old party Congress and if the former ruling parties SP and BSP are able to create a dent in the BJP that is looking on a strong wicket.       


Besides UP, Punjab, Goa, Manipur, and Uttarakhand are also the states going to the polls this year. 


UP assembly election 2022 will be held to elect 403 MLAs. The term of the current UP assembly, elected in 2017, will expire on May 14, 2022. The Election Commission of India (ECI) released the final voter list for UP Legislative Assembly Election 2022 earlier this week.


UP Assembly Election 2022 — Polling Date, Schedule & Counting Day


The schedule for the 2022 UP Assembly Election is mentioned below with dates listed for the polls and counting of votes, according to ECI. The election will be conducted in seven phases.


1st Phase: Feb 10


2nd Phase: Feb 14


3rd Phase: Feb 20


4th Phase: Feb 23


5th Phase: Feb 27


6th Phase: March 3


7th Phase: March 7


Counting Day: March 10


UP Assembly Election 2022 — District-Wise Polling Phases & Dates


Phase 1 (February 10): Shamli, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Meerut Hapur, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Mathura, Agra and Aligarh.


Phase 2 (February 14): Saharanpur, Bijnor, Amroha, Sambhal, Moradabad, Rampur, Bareilly, Badaun and Shahjahanpur.


Phase 3 (February 20): Kasganj, Hathras, Firozabad, Etah, Mainpuri, Farrukhabad, Kannauj, Etawah, Auraiya, Kanpur Dehat, Kanpur Nagar, Jalaun, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Jhansi and Lalitpur.


Phase 4 (February 23): Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri, Sitapur, Hardoi, Lucknow, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Fatehpur and Banda.


Phase 5 (February 27): Shravasti, Bahraich, Barabanki, Gonda, Ayodhya, Amethi, Sultanpur, Pratapgarh, Kaushambi, Chitrakoot and Prayagraj.


Phase 6 (March 3): Balrampur, Siddharthnagar, Maharajganj, Kushinagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Ambedkar Nagar, Gorakhpur, Deoria and Ballia.


Phase 7 (March 7): Azamgarh, Mau, Ghazipur, Jaunpur, Sant Ravidas Nagar, Varanasi, Mirzapur, Ghazipur, Chandauli and Sonbhadra.


UP Legislative Assembly Election 2017


Voting for UP Legislative Assembly Election 2017 was held in 7 phases and it witnessed a voter turnout of 61.04%. In what can be termed as the Modi wave, BJP won the UP assembly election 2017 by an overwhelming three-quarter majority, winning 325 seats.


The incumbent SP government lost 177 seats and managed to get only 47 out of the 311 seats it contested in the 2017 UP assembly election. While the Mayawati-led BSP lost further ground in the state with 19 wins out of 403 seats it contested.


Congress had to remain content with 7 assembly seats while BJP's minor alliance partner Apna Dal was able to snatch 9 from the 11 seats it fought on. 


UP Legislative Assembly Election - Pre Poll Alliance


It appears that the UP assembly election 2022 will be BJP vs others. UP CM Yogi Adityanath is the face of BJP in the state, while the lines are clear that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is still the biggest draw for BJP.


BJP will be contesting the 2022 UP assembly election with alliance partners in the state with Apna Dal and Nishad Party. The seat-sharing formula is to be ironed out.


Under the leadership of former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, Samajwadi Party will be contesting polls with Apna Dal (Kamerawadi), Jayant Chaudhary-led RLD, Om Prakash Rajbhar's Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party. Shivpal Singh Yadav SP faction Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohiya) has also come to an understanding with the SP chief for the UP 2022 assembly polls.


BSP and Congress are so far contesting the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls all alone and Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM is another big factor for UP polls.