Campaigning on eight LS seats for second phase in UP ends today

Lucknow, April 24 (IANS) Campaigning for the second phase of Lok Sabha elections in eight seats of western will conclude on Wednesday evening.

The eight seats where polls will be held in the second phase are Amroha, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Bulandshahr, Aligarh and Mathura.

Polling for the second phase will be held on April 26.

In this phase, two Bollywood stars are contesting -- Hema Malini from Mathura and Arun Govil from Meerut.

In the second phase, a total of 91 candidates from UP are in the fray.

A maximum of 15 candidates each are trying their luck in Gautam Buddha Nagar and Mathura seats. Six candidates are trying their electoral fortunes in Bulandshahr. In Amroha, 12 candidates are in the fray, while in Meerut eight, Baghpat seven and 14 each in Ghaziabad and Aligarh.

The fate of these candidates will be decided by 1,67,77,198 voters.

In this phase, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed election meetings in Meerut and Aligarh and held a roadshow in Ghaziabad.

The second phase will also decide whether BSP MP Kunwar Danish Ali, who left the BSP to join the Congress will be able to repeat his past success on the Amroha seat or not.

The electoral fate of Ghaziabad BJP MLA Atul Garg, who served as the Minister of State in the first term of the Yogi government, will also be decided in the second phase.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath conducted public meetings in Amroha and Baghpat and held a roadshow in Meerut while Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also addressed a public meeting in Gautam Buddha Nagar in support of the BJP candidate.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav held public meetings in Aligarh and Baghpat in support of his party candidates in this phase. BSP supremo Mayawati sought support for her party candidates through public meetings in Aligarh and Meerut.

The INDIA bloc organised a joint rally featuring Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav in Amroha and held a joint press conference in Ghaziabad.