Lucknow, February 23: Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections 2022 has come down to the fifth phase. The polling for the fifth phase of UP Assembly Elections 2022 will be held on 61 assembly seats in 12 districts on February 27. Election campaigning of all parties will end at 5 pm on February 25.

The fifth phase of UP elections will be politically crucial as much anticipated assembly seats such as Ayodhya, Barabanki, Allahabad South, Allahabad North, Amethi, Chitrakoot, etc will be undergoing polls. Out of 61 assembly seats, 13 are reserved seats for SC candidates. A total of 685 candidates are in the fray in the fifth phase of the UP Vidhan Sabha polls. Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections 2022 Dates And Full Schedule: Voting in 7 Phases on Feb 10, 14, 20, 23, 27, March 3, 7; Counting And Results on March 10.

Let’s Take a Look at the Key Candidates in Phase 5 of UP Elections:

Sanjaya Sinh:

Sanjaya Sinh, the erstwhile ‘Raja of Amethi’ has entered the state polls for the first time in 33 years. The 70-year-old will be contesting from Amethi on a BJP ticket. In past, he was selected twice as an MLA during the 1980s and had served various state ministerial posts. However, in 2019, he resigned from Rajya Sabha and Indian National Congress to join Bharatiya Janata Party.

Tej Narayan Pandey:

The ex-MLA of Ayodhya, Tej Narayan Pandey is contesting again from the assembly seat in phase 5 of the UP assembly elections. The seat has a large number of Brahmin votes, and the Tej Narain Pandey is from the community, which is why BJP has fielded sitting MLA Ved Prakash Gupta on the seat. Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections 2022: First-Time Female Voter and Presiding Officer Plant ‘Mat Vriksha’ Sapling at Green Booth in Lucknow.

Nirmala Bharti:

Congress has shown trust in Nirmala Bharti for the Chitrakoot Sadar assembly seat. Nirmala Bharti, a post-graduate, had won in 2016 Panchayat election in Ward number 3. Bharti is also a member of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU).

Dharmraj Singh Yadav:

Barabanki assembly seat is a stronghold of Dharmraj Singh Yadav. He has won every assembly election from Barabanki since the inception of the legislative constituency. SP has opted for Dharmraj Singh Yadav again for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections 2022.

Nand Gopal Gupta:

Sitting MLA and BJP candidate, Nand Gopal Gupta had won the seat by defeating SP's Parvez Ahmad. Meanwhile, Congress has fielded Alpana Nishad from the seat. SP has fielded Raees Chandra Shukla. It will be interesting to watch whether Nand Gopal Gupta will be able to retain his seat or not.

In the 2017 assembly elections, the BJP alliance had won 50 seats out of the 61 seats. SP bagged 5 seats, BSP only 3 seats, and the Congress had to settle for just 1 seat.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 23, 2022 05:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).