Campaigning ends for phase 1 of polls to 58 seats in UP

Campaigning for the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly election ended on Monday, ahead of the polling scheduled for Thursday on 58 seats spread across 11 districts. The BJP had won 53 of these seats in 2017 polls, whereas the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) had won two seats each and one seat was won by the RLD. In the first phase, Agra is the biggest district with nine assembly seats. In 2017, the BJP had won all nine seats here.

In view of the crubs imposedby the EC, political parties resorted to new means and ways to campaign during the election.

The BJP focused on door-to-door campaigning, led by Union home minister Amit Shah. The party also organised virtual rallies by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In the last few days of the campaigning in the first phase, BJP leaders also addressed small gatherings.


The opposition SP-RLD relied more on press conferences in each district with party candidates sitting along with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary. Due to the restrictions, the SP did not organise any major public gatherings. However, Yadav and Chaudhary travelled on their campaign bus and the crowd kept gathering on their travel routes. BSP leader Mayawati took to the campaign a little later than her counterparts and started with a public meeting in Agra on February 1. Since then, she has held public meetings in Ghaziabad, Aligarh, Amroha and Saharanpur. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi was also on campaign trail, going door to door in favour of party candidates in several assembly constituencies.