Stakes high for SP, BJP in Lucknow assembly seats

Lucknow, Feb 18: The land of the wabs here in the Uttar Pradesh capital is all set to elect nine lawmakers for the 17th state assembly on Sunday. And for all the political parties, it is a contest to watch out for! The parliamentary constituency of former Prime Minister and BJP stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee for five terms, Lucknow, has been a saffron loyal, with the BJP making deep inroads in and around it. The city however went overwhelmingly with the Samajwadi Party (SP) in 2012. With seven legislators of the SP elected from here in the last assembly, the ruling party is trying hard to repeat and even better that past performance. The two SP candidates from patron Mulayam Singh Yadav’s clan - nephew Anurag Yadav and daughter-in-law Apar Yadav, are pitching in on the family me and development by the Akhilesh Yadav government.

Lucknow Metro Rail, the Gomti River Front project, IT city and the Agra-Lucknow Expressway are being highlighted by the ruling party candidates.

The BJP which did well in all elections, except the 2012, are trying to make the best of the charisma of Prime Minister rendra Modi and the strong incumbency wave against the SP over poor law and order situation. While the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is urging people to vote for them for better law and order, a candidate of the Congress, Maroof Khan, has refused to withdraw from the Lucknow Central seat where the SP has also fielded its veteran Ravidas Mehrotra. (IANS)