High-octane campaigning ends for fifth phase of UP polls

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], February 25 : From power-packed rallies and roadshows by top leaders to promises of freebies and verbal attacks, the high-octane campaigning ahead of the fifth phase Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh ended on Friday.
As many as 61 seats spread across 12 districts including Sultanpur, Chitrakoot, Pratapgarh, Kaushambi, Prayagraj, Barabaki, Bahraich, Shravasti, Gonda, Amethi and Raebareli are going to polls on Sunday.
As many as 692 candidates are in the fray in the fifth phase whose political fate will be decided by around 2.24 crore electorates.

When it comes to the aggressive campaigns, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Samajwadi Party (SP) garnered most of the eyeballs. Congress also hit the ground hard, with the party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's vivacious campaigns. However, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) seemed to lag a little behind its contenders.
BJP landed its top leadership including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to bolster the party's support base. PM Modi held rallies in Prayagraj, Kaushambi, Bahraich and Amethi where he attacked the Opposition alleging "Parivarvad" (dynastic politics).

Union Home Minister Amit Shah who was on a campaigning trail, promised free power for irrigation to farmers of Uttar Pradesh for five years if BJP retains power. He also promised a free LPG gas cylinder on Holi and Diwali.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressed a single rally in Amethi on Friday and alleged that the BJP-ruled Centre has "broken the backbone" of India's employment sector.

"The backbone of India's employment sector has been broken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his friends. You'll see in the coming times, the youth of this country won't get employment, teach them however much you want. No one listened to me during COVID, but you saw bodies in Ganga," Rahul Gandhi said.
Union Minister Smriti Irani also held a rally in her Lok Sabha constituency Amethi on Friday where she defeated Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 general elections and promised to provide free scooties (two-wheelers) to all meritorious girls in Uttar Pradesh if BJP returns to power.
However, most of the personal attacks carried out against each other were between Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav. Both were seen referring to each other as 'Baba' and 'Babua' respectively.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday expressed confidence over the Bharatiya Janata Party's victory in the ongoing state assembly polls said Opposition party leaders know they are going to lose hence they have booked tickets to go abroad post declaration of results.
"They (Opposition) have already made arrangements for their foreign escape on March 11 (one day after the declaration of results), they have booked tickets because they know the result,' Adityanath told ANI during a roadshow in Prayagraj.
Reacting to Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav's "Baba Bulldozer" jibe, Adityanath said, "Bulldozer is a symbol of our (BJP's) development and also a way to create fear in the mafia."

Taking a dig at the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said that the Chief Minister Yogi is distributing laptops while he himself does not know to operate one.
The SP chief promised 300 units of free electricity to the people in the state and a waiver of house tax.

Campaigning for SP, actor-turned-politician Jaya Bachchan on Friday accused the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in the state of lying and said that the Chief Minister "never uttered a word" on women's safety.
One of the surprise appearances in the UP poll campaigning scene ahead of the fifth phase was of Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra Minister Aditya Thackeray who held a rally in Prayagraj on Thursday in support of his party candidates.

Thackeray launched a sharp attack on the ruling BJP government of Uttar Pradesh and called it a "jumla sarkar" by saying that the new path has to be followed in the state.
Polling for four phases of the seven-phased Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections has already concluded.
The fifth phase, which is scheduled on February 27, will majorly cover the eastern region.
The remaining two phases will take place on March 3 and March 6. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.