Phase 1 of UP polls: How did Western UP vote in last elections

Lucknow, Feb 10: The battleground Western Uttar Pradesh, which is going to polls today promises a direct fate between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Samajwadi Party. The region is very crucial for both the parties as it will cover the Jat-dominated belt of western UP from where farmers had participated actively in the stir against the Centre's three farm laws in the national capital.

The matrix of party support may change with every election, but the reasons for people's support to particular candidates hardly changes.

The region's population comprises Muslims, Jats, Dalits and OBCs, spread in varying proportions. Eight seats of Agra-Aligarh divisions and 18 seats of Meerut-Saharanpur divisions are dominated by the Jat community.

In Fatehpur Sikri, Kheragarh, Agra Rural Baldev, Mant, Chhata, and Goverdhan jats are key. Even in the Saharanpur and Meerut divisions, 18 seats have Jats taking the lead.

The Western UP will decide whether the BJP can retain power. The region had voted in favour of the BJP in the 2014 and 2019 general elections and the 2017 assembly polls. But the SP-RLD alliance, backed by farm protests, hopes to reverse the BJP's gains.

The districts where the elections will be held are Shamli, Hapur, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Mathura and Agra.

As many as 623 candidates are in the fray in the first phase and around 2.27 crore people are eligible to vote in this phase.

In 2017, the BJP bagged 53 of the 58 seats, while the Samajwadi Party and the BSP had got two seats each.

One seat had gone to the Rashtriya Lok Dal.