Uttar Pradesh polls: BJP fields Yogi Adityanath from Gorakhpur, woos backwards with big share

LUCKNOW: BJP allocated a lion's share of tickets for backwards even as it sprung a surprise by fielding CM Yogi Adityanath from his home turf, Gorakhpur (urban) seat, instead of Hindutva nerve-centre of Ayodhya as speculated, in the first list of 107 candidates for UP it announced on Saturday.
Out of these 107 seats, barring Gorakhpur (Urban) and Sirathu, remaining 105 will go to the polls in the first two phases.

As expected, deputy CM Keshav Maurya will contest from Sirathu in Kaushambi. While Yogi, who has been a five-time MP from Gorakhpur, will contest an assembly election for the first time, Maurya had won from Sirathu in 2012 . Both will replace sitting MLAs -- RMD Agarwal and Sheetla Prasad.
Only 10 out of 107 candidates are women
The party announced candidates for 57 out of 58 seats going to the polls in the first phase, while 48 names out of 55 constituencies in the second phase were announced. Nominees for eight seats will be announced later, with some of these likely to go to allies—Nishad Party and Apna Dal.
Of the 105 seats going to the polls in the first two phases, BJP had won 86 in 2017. However, two were lying vacant because of the death of incumbents, while three defected to SP a few days ago. Out of the remaining 81, the party has retained 60 sitting MLAs in the list, which is almost 75%. The retention comes against the backdrop of speculation about the possibility of a large number of sitting MLAs being dropped.
Among the runners-up of the 2017 elections, only four have been fielded again, while 13 were replaced. Only 10 out of 107 candidates are women.
The party has given 44 seats to OBC candidates. Though commensurate with the make-upof the electorate, the big share is being seen as significant in view of BJP’s attempt to blunt the opposition’s claim about the exit of "backawards" from the saffron-fold with Samajwadi Party managing to poach influential backward leaders like Swami Prasad Maurya and Dharam Singh Saini.
Also, the party which was at the receiving end of the farmers' agitation in the Jatdominated pockets of western UP, has kept its faith in the influential community. Sixteen of these tickets have gone to Jat candidates who helped the party sweep the region in the 2017 polls held in the wake of communal riots.
Gujars, another important category in the area, have got seven tickets, as against six and five given to Lodhs and Sainis respectively.
Most of the big names of West UP, including Suresh Ra- na from Thana Bhawan, Shrikant Sharma from Mathura, Sangeet Som from Sardhana, Rajnath Singh's son Pankaj Singh from Noida, Dhirendra Singh from Jewar, Umesh Malik from Budhana, Brijesh Singh from Deoband, Kapil Dev Agrawal from Muzaffarnagar, Anil Sharma from Shikarpur, Sanjay Sharma from Anoopshahar and Baldev Singh Aulakh from Bilaspur, have been renominated. In all, 12 ministers have made the cut.
The list also has former Uttarakhand governor and now BJP vice-president Baby Rani Maurya,a Dalit, who has been fielded from Agra (ru- ral).
OBCs, who form the biggest chunk of voters, are considered crucial for winning elections in UP. BJP managed to win over non-Yadav OBCs after 2014 to significantly expand its social bouquet. Its experiment paid off and the party posted thumping wins in 2017 assembly and 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The selection of candidates in the first list is an extension of its OBC outreach, say observers.
The recognition of the cruciality of OBCs does not come at the cost of the upper castes. The party has also fielded upper caste candidates in 43 constituencies. Thirteen of the nominations for the 19 seats reserved for Scheduled Castes have gone to Jatavs who have been staunch supporters of BSP.
Among the upper castes, 16 tickets have gone to Thakurs, 10 to Brahmins, 8 to Vaishyas, 3 to Punjabis and two to Kayasths. Interestingly, Kayasths have got one additional ticket as compared to 2017. Akash Saxena has been fielded from Rampur City, in what is being seen as reward for the legal battles he has waged against SP strongman of the region Azam Khan and his family.
Three of former MPs, including Kunwar Bhartendu Singh from Najibabad, Dr Yashwant from Nagina and Babu Ram Chaudhary from Fatehpur Sikri, have also been given tickets. All the three had lost Lok Sabha elections in 2019 when BJP faced off against an SP-BSP front.
Former state BJP chief and chairman of the joining committee, Laxmikant Bajpayee and veteran legislator Dr RMD Agarwal are the two notable omissions. Bajpayee who lost to Haji Rafiq Ansari of SP in 2017 has been replaced by Kamal Dutt Sharma. The veteran leader told TOI that he had opted out. “I neither asked for a ticket for my children or wife like others,” hesaid added that he had requested to field any worker and he would support him.