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The Bharatiya Janata Party will be eyeing the Rampur and Moradabad constituencies, which are considered strongholds of the Samajwadi Party as it won both seats in the 2019 general elections.
The Rampur and Moradabad seats will go to the polls on April 19 in Phase 1 of the electoral process. The Rampur constituency comprises five legislative assembly segments--Bilaspur, Rampur Sadar, Milak, Swar Tanda and Chamraua. Mohibullah Nadvi who is a cleric in a mosque at Parliament Street, New Delhi is the INDIA bloc's candidate on the SP ticket from the Rampur seat. Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded Ghanshyam Lodhi, who became the MP recently in the By-poll elections. The Bahujan Samaj Party has fielded Zeeshan Khan for the seat. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the Samajwadi Party's veteran leader, Azam Khan, gathered 5,59,177 votes and emerged victorious in the Rampur seat. The SP had an alliance with the BSP at that time. BJP's Jayaprada got 4,49,180 votes and Congress' Sanjay Kapoor got 35,009 votes. Azam Khan has been a MLA from Rampur Sadar seat 10 times. Khan reached the Uttar Pradesh Assembly for the first time in June 1980 from Rampur on a Janata Party (Secular) ticket. With Khan in jail, the SP will find the going tough in Rampur. Moradabad is one of the 80 constituencies in Western Uttar Pradesh that is going to poll in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Moradabad Lok Sabha constituency comprises five Vidhan Sabha (legislative assembly) segments: Barhapur; Kanth; Thakurdwara; Moradabad Rural; and Moradabad Nagar region. The seat is currently represented by the Samajwadi Party's ST Hasan. INDIA bloc candidate Ruchi Veera has been fielded on Samajwadi Party's ticket while Bharatiya Janata Party's Kunwar Sarvesh Kumar Singh will contest from this seat. The Moradabad seat witnessed a drama recently when two Samajwadi party candidates ST Hasan and Ruchi Veera both filed their nominations from the seat. However, SP's choice was Ruchi Veera. Afterwards, Hasan stepped back and said that it was the choice of the party. It can choose whoever it wants. In the 2019 general elections, SP's ST Hasan won the Moradabad seat, gathering 50 per cent of votes. He defeated the BJP's Kunwar Sarvesh Kumar, who gathered 551,538 votes. Congress' Imran Pratapgarhi came on third. ST Hasan said that he would accompany the party chief out of compulsion but will not campaign for the party's candidate, Ruchi Vira. "I got to know this through media and newspapers. If Akhilesh Yadav calls me or comes to my home, I'll accompany him out of compulsion as my etiquette says so. I'll go out of my respect for Akhilesh Yadav but will not campaign (for SP candidate, Ruchi Vira). People are sad and if I campaign they'll be against me," Hasan said. Earlier in the 2019 elections, proving all the arithmetic of the SP-BSP 'mahagatbandhan' in Uttar Pradesh wrong, the BJP and its ally Apna Dal(S) won 64 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats. The alliance partners, Akhilesh Yadav's party and Mayawati Party's, won 15 seats. Voting for phases one and two will be held on April 19 and April 26. Next, the state will once again poll in phases three and four on May 7 and May 13. The Uttar Pradesh electorate will also vote in phases five, six and seven on May 20, May 23 and June 1 respectively. The votes will be counted on June 4. (ANI)
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