Lucknow, February 21: The polling for the fourth phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections 2022 will be held on 60 assembly seats in 9 districts on February 23. These districts include Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri, Sitapur, Lucknow, Hardoi, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Fatehpur, and the Banda district. Election campaigning of all parties ended at 5 pm on Monday.

The fourth phase of UP elections will be politically crucial as the Gandhi family's stronghold, Lucknow and Rae Bareli, will be undergoing polls. A total of 624 candidates are in the fray in the fourth phase of the UP Vidhan Sabha polls. Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections 2022: From Rae Bareli to Unnao, Here Are The Five Key Contests in The Fourth Phase.

Let’s Take a Look at the Key Candidates in Phase 4 of UP Elections:

Aditi Singh:

Once a Congress star performer, Aditi Singh will be contesting from Rae Bareli on a BJP ticket in UP Assembly Elections 2022. Aditi is the daughter of a Congress veteran and a five-time MLA Akhilesh Yadav. In 2017, she had bagged the Rae Bareli Sadar seat by a huge margin. However, she was suspended from Congress for her connections with BJP. Two months ago, she officially joined BJP and was given a ticket. Aditi looks confident ahead of the elections as she even challenged Congress GS Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to contest against her. In an Interesting battle, Manish Singh Chauhan will try to preserve the Congress legacy. Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections 2022: Know How To Check Name in Voter List and Download Voter Slip.

Asha Singh:

Asha Singh, the mother of the Unnao rape survivor, is in the fray on a Congress ticket from the Unnao seat. She, on numerous times, says her fight is for justice. The battle of the Unnao Sadar assembly seat will be an interesting one as many experts say that Congress' move will only harm the party. Meanwhile, BJP has fielded Pankaj Gupta from Unnao and SP has Abhinav Kumar. Yuvraj Singh Chandel is contesting on AAP ticket.

Brijesh Pathak:

Brijesh Pathak, Minister in Yogi cabinet and a prominent Brahmin face of the saffron party, has vacated his old seat and will be seen fighting for Lucknow Cantt. assembly seat. Notably, Aparna Yadav, who recently joined the BJP, had expressed a desire to contest from Unnao's seat. Congress' Dilpreet Singh, SP's Raju Singh, and Anil Pandey of BSP are also in the fray.

Abhishek Mishra:

Abhishek Mishra, the former minister, has been given a ticket from the Sarojini Nagar seat, which is known as one of the most talked-about seats of Lucknow. Abhishek Mishra aka "Professor Saab" will be going up against BJP's former Joint Director of ED Rajeshwar Singh.

Ravidas Mehrotra:

SP veteran Ravidas Mehrotra is trying his luck from Lucknow Central seat. He was a minister in the Akhilesh Yadav-led government. BJP has fielded Rajneesh Gupta and Congress has Sadaf Jafar. Meanwhile, Ashish Chandra Srivastava will be contesting from Lucknow Central assembly seat on BSP ticket.

It is said that the Lakhimpur Kheri violence of October 3 last year is likely to have a significant impact on the UP phase 4 polls. In the 2017 assembly elections, the BJP alliance had won 52 seats out of the 60 seats. SP bagged 4 seats while the Congress and the BSP won 2 seats each.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 21, 2022 05:28 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).