Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Saturday released the first list of 53 candidates for the forthcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh.
Addressing a press conference in Lucknow, BSP supremo Mayawati said, "We have finalised candidates on 53 seats in the first list. The remaining 5 names will be released in a day or two."
Mayawati is not contesting the elections this time.
Uttar Pradesh will witness elections being held for 403 Assembly constituencies. The polls will be held in 7 phases, starting from February 10. It will end on March 7. In the first phase, 58 Assembly seats spread over 11 districts will go to the polls.
Expressing confidence of winning the elections and forming the new government, Mayawati said her government will continue to work on the same lines as in the previous regime.
For the three assembly constituencies in Gautam Buddh Nagar, BSP has fielded Kriparam Sharma from Noida, Manveer Singh Bhati from Dadri and Narendra Bhati 'Dada' from Jewar, showed a list shared by the party.
Polling in Uttar Pradesh will be held on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7 in seven phases. Counting of votes will take place on March 10.
In 2017, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had won over 300 seats, giving a battering to both BSP and Samajwadi Party (SP), the two regional parties that had dominated Uttar Pradesh politics for over two decades. During that election, the BSP won only 19 seats, down steeply from the 80 seats it had won in 2012. For BSP, this was the lowest tally since 1991, when it had won 12 seats. The SP won 47 seats in 2017, which was the lowest number of seats for it since inception in 1992. The SP’s lowest number of seats won till then was 97 seats in 2007. SP had garnered a vote share of 21.8 per cent, and BSP 22.2 per cent.
(Edited by : Thomas Abraham)
