The sixth phase of elections in Uttar Pradesh, polling for which will be held on February 28, will now decide who finally wins the race for power in the state.
In the sixth phase, there are 68 seats spread over 13 districts that will be going to polls. This phase not only has the maximum number of assembly segments going to polls and is also dominated by seats having a sizeable Muslim population.
This phase will also be a testing ground for the Rashtriya Lok Dal-Congress alliance since this is a RLD stronghold.
The districts that will b going to polls in the sixth phase include Saharanpur, Prabudhha Nagar, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Panchsheel Nagar Gautam Buddha Nagar, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Mahamaya Nagar, Mathura and Agra.
In 2007, the BSP had won 35 seats in this phase and the party will have to at least retain this tally in the polls if it wishes to ride back to power. In this region, the BSP is facing maximum backlash on the issue of land acquisition and with 7 of its ministers in the fray in the sixth phase, the going is not exactly easy for the ruling party. Besides, the party is faced with rebel candidates on several seats and is facing the threat of internal sabotage.
The BSP, however, hopes to gain because two new districts created by Ms Mayawati — Prabudhha Nagar and Panchsheel Nagar — will also vote in this phase and the party hopes to make gains.
The SP, which had won three seats in this phase in 2007, has nothing to lose but the party must pick up many more seats to establish its claim to form the next government in UP.
The Samajwadis have already suffered a major setback with the exit of SP MP Rashid Masood who wields considerable influence among Muslims in Saharanpur. Besides the Congress-RLD combine is also likely to attract a section of Muslims in the region. This phase is also crucial for the BJP which had won 12 seats in 2007. The party had befriended the Rashtriya Lok Dal in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections but RLD is now positioned against the BJP in western UP.