Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath during an election campaign rally in Jhansi district.
Highlights
- Akhilesh Yadav is fighting his first assembly election from his home turf
- The Karhal Vidhan Sabha forms part of Mulayam Singh's Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat
- While BJP has fielded SP Baghel against Akhilesh, Congress has not fielded its candidate from here
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has claimed that Samajwadi Party's national president Akhilesh Yadav will lose his deposit in Karhal from where he is contesting Assembly polls. Polling in Mainpuri district's Karhal will take place in the third phase on February 20.
"Samajwadi Party candidate will lose his deposits in Karhal, Mainpuri in this election. BJP has already won this fight since the commander of Samajwadi Party himself is going out of the contest," he said.
Karhal, which happens to be the stronghold of the Samajwadi Party, is witnessing a bipolar contest. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded Union Minister SP Singh Baghel against Akhilesh here. Akhilesh is also the chief ministerial candidate of the opposition alliance which comprises RLD and a string of caste-based regional parties. Congress has not fielded its candidate against the Samajwadi Party chief while BSP has nominated a little known Kuldeep Narayan.
According to the BJP, there is a wave in the favour of the party in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath in Karhal.
Karhal is just four km from Akhilesh's native village Saifai in the Etawah district. Akhilesh served as the Chief Minister between 2012 and 2017 through the legislative council route and is also an MP from Azamgarh presently. He is fighting his first assembly election from his home turf. The Karhal Vidhan Sabha forms part of Mulayam Singh Yadav's Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat.
Baghel was a police officer who served in the security of former CM Mulayam Singh Yadav. It was Mulayam who had brought him into politics. He is a Lok Sabha MP from Agra.
Karhal seat has been a stronghold of the SP since 1993. Though in the 2002 assembly election, the seat went to the BJP's Sobaran Singh Yadav but he later joined SP. The constituency has about a 3.7 lakh electorate, including 1.4 lakh (37 per cent) Yadavs, 34,000 Shakhyas (OBCs) and around 14,000 Muslims.
READ MORE: Ghosts will dance at BJP's booths in Karhal, says Akhilesh Yadav
READ MORE: SP Baghel to take on Akhilesh in Karhal, was once Mulayam's security officer
