Lok Sabha polls 2024: UP gears up for fourth phase of polls in 13 constituencies

Voting for the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 in Uttar Pradesh covering 13 parliamentary constituencies will take place on Monday with all eyes on the prestigious Kannauj seat from where SP president Akhilesh Yadav is seeking a reelection reported news agency PTIAnother prominent candidate in the fray in this round is Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra Teni who is contesting from KheriVoting will take place in Shahjahanpur SC Kheri Dhaurahra Sitapur Hardoi SC Misrikh SC Unnao Farrukhabad Etawah SC Kannauj Kanpur Akbarpur and Bahraich SC A total of 130 candidates are in the poll fray in this phaseAmong the 13 pollbound constituencies Kannauj will see a contest between the SP chief and sitting BJP MP Subrat Pathak while in Unnao incumbent BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj Swami Sachidanand Hari Sakshi is pitted against SPs Annu Tandon a former Lok Sabha MP from UnnaoTandon had contested against Sakshi Maharaj as a Congress candidate in 2014 and 2019 but had lost on both occasions She had won the Unnao Lok Sabha seat in 2009 on a Congress ticketOf the 13 parliamentary constituencies going to polls in the fourth phase the BJP has reposed its faith in 11 sitting MPs by giving them tickets while it has fielded new candidates Ramesh Awasthi from Kanpur and Anand Kumar from the BahraichSC seat reported PTIIn the INDIA bloc the SP has fielded candidates from 11 Lok Sabha seats in this phase while on two seats Kanpur Alok Misra and Sitapur Rakesh Rathor candidates of the Congress are in the frayFour BJP candidates Union minister Teni Kheri Rekha Verma Dhaurahra Mukesh Rajput Farrukhabad and Devendra Singh alias Bhole Akbarpur are eyeing a hat trick while Rajesh Verma is eyeing a fifth term from SitapurAshok Kumar Rawat and Ram Shankar Katheria are eyeing a fourth term from Misrikh SC and Etawah SC respectively Sitting MP from Hardoi SC Jai Prakash and incumbent from Unnao Sakshi Maharaj are eyeing a sixth term in the Lok Sabha reported PTIOver 246 crore voters will be eligible to exercise their voting rights in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha polls in the stateLike other poll phases campaigning for the fourth phase witnessed attacks and counterattacks by leaders of various political parties against each other reported PTISlamming the Congress and INDIA bloc Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Dhaurahra on May 5 had said that Muslims now understand that the Congress and INDIA bloc are using them as pawns asserting that the community is distancing itself from them after seeing the development carried out by the BJPOn the same day PM Modi had lashed out at the dynastic politics of the SP and the Congress during a rally in Etawah saying while the opposition alliance partners work only to benefit their own families he is building a better future for the nations next generations reported PTIReferring to himself and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath he had said We dont have children We are working for your childrenOn Friday Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said an INDIA bloc storm is arriving in Uttar Pradesh and asserted that Modi will not make it to the post of prime minister this timeGandhi and Yadav addressed joint rallies in Kannauj and Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh where the two parties are contesting as allies Under their seatsharing agreement the Congress is fighting on 17 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state reported PTIIn his Kanpur address Gandhi claimed the Congress will win at least 50 seats in Uttar PradeshThe SP chief on Saturday had termed the ongoing Lok Sabha elections 2024 as a national movement for the cause of the Constitution and to protect reservations as he called upon his party members to join it to change the fate of the country reported PTIBypolls will also be held to Dadraul assembly constituency in Shahjahanpur districtThe assembly seat of Dadraul fell vacant following the death of BJP MLA Manvendra Singh on January 5 due to prolonged illnessThere are 10 candidates in the poll fray for the Dadraul assembly byelectionWith inputs from PTI