UP set for 4th phase polls: Key constituencies, prominent candidates

Lucknow, Feb 22: The fourth phase of Uttar Pradesh elections will be held on Wednesday in 59 assembly segments. It will decide the fate of 624 candidates in the districts of Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri, Sitapur, Hardoi, Unnao, Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Banda and Fatehpur.

In the 2017 elections, the BJP had won 51, four had gone to the Samajwadi Party, and three to the Bahujan Samaj Party. The BJP's ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) had bagged one seat. Lakhimpur, which had hogged national news headlines after eight people, including four farmers, were killed in violence on October 3 will go to the polls in the fourth phase.

Among the prominent candidates in this phase is Uttar Pradesh Law Minister Brijesh Pathak who is facing Samajwadi party candidate and two-time corporator Surendra Singh Gandhi in the Lucknow Cantonment seat.

Pathak had won the Lucknow Central seat in 2017. Another minister Ashutosh Tandon is in the fray from Lucknow East seat. The Sarojini Nagar Assembly segment will witness a battle between former ED officer Rajeshwar Singh fielded by the BJP and Abhishek Mishra who had been a minister in the Samajwadi Party government.

Deputy Speaker of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly Nitin Agarwal, who had crossed over to the BJP from the Samajwadi Party, will face the electoral test in this phase. Rae Bareli, considered as a Congress bastion will also go to the polls in this phase, with BJP's Aditi Singh in the fray from Rae Bareli. She was earlier with the Congress.

The campaigning for the fourth phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls came to an end on Monday.