Uttar Pradesh assembly election phase-1: All you need to know

Voting for the first phase of state elections will begin on Thursday, with polling scheduled to take place in Uttar Pradesh's 58 assembly seats spread across 11 districts. This phase will cover the Jat-dominated belt of western UP where farmers had participated actively in the stir against the Centre's three agri laws. This time round Samajwadi Party has teamed up with Rashtriya Lok Dal, hoping to improve upon its 2017 tally of just two in the farmer belt. BSP had also bagged two seats in the previous elections. The districts where the elections will be held are Shamli, Hapur, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Mathura and Agra.

KEY CONTESTS

Sardhana: BJP's hardline leader and two-time MLA Sangeet Singh Som vs SP's Atul Pradhan
Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida): BJP's Pankaj Singh (sitting MLA) vs Pankhuri Pathak of INC
Kairana: SP's Nahid Hasan (sitting MLA) vs BJP MLA's daughter Mriganka Singh
Mathura: Shrikant Sharma (BJP sitting MLA) vs INC's Pradeep Mathur (sitting MLA) vs SP's Davendra Agrawal
Thana Bhawan: Two-time winner Suresh Kumar of BJP vs RLD's Ashraf Ali Khan