In a multi-party contest, political parties with varied strategies and promises are reaching out to people in Agra to win over nine constituencies in the district which heads into polling in the first phase of the seven-phase Uttar Pradesh Assembly election.
The Samajwadi Party has joined with Rashtriya Lok Dal to fight for the Dalit stronghold, comprising 21 per cent of total voters in Agra.
In 2007, the Bahujan Samaj Party won six out of nine seats in the district. In 2017, Hemlata Diwakar of BJP won against BSP’s Kalicharan Suman with a margin of 60,000 votes.
In the sixteenth legislative assembly, the Samajwadi Party won by securing a comfortable majority of 224 in a house of 403 outperforming the ruling BSP.
In the first phase of elections which is to be held on February 10, the Rashtriya Lok Dal and the Samajwadi Party have formed an alliance on an overwhelming performance in 403 Assembly seats.
RLD and Apna Dal won just one single seat in 2017, while BJP had a landslide victory by winning 312 seats.
The total number of eligible voters in the UP Assembly elections is 15.06 crore. Out of a total of 34.61 lakh voters, Agra accounts for an increase of 2.17 lakh voters within five years.
The district known as ‘Tajnagri’ will witness 38,640 voters for the first time among which more than 18,000 are female voters whereas more than 20,000 are male. As many as 17,952 differently-abled will also get their right to vote this time.
In Uttar Pradesh, elections will be held in 403 assembly seats in seven phases from February 10 to March 7.
In Phase 1, 58 assembly constituencies will go for polling. Votes will be counted on March 10.