Additional forces for second phase in U.P.

Additional security forces have been deployed in the 11 constituencies of Uttar Pradesh where polling will be held in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Thursday. These constituencies are spread across nine districts in Rohilkhand and Terai regions of the State.

DIG (Public Grievances ) A. Satish Ganesh said here that the deployment of civil police personnel has been augmented considering that as compared to the first phase held on April 10, elections in the second phase will be in 11 constituencies. In the first phase polling was held in 10 constituencies of western Uttar Pradesh.

Mr. Satish Ganesh said the deployment of the Central Para Military Forces (CPMF) was the same as in the first phase. He did not disclose the number of CPMF companies pressed for the election duty.

Polling in the second phase will be held in Nagina (reserved), Moradabad, Rampur, Sambhal, Amroha, Budaun, Aonla, Bareilly, Pilibhit, Shahjahanpur and Kheri. Among the candidates whose fate would be decided on Thursday are Maneka Gandhi of the Bharatiya Janata Party from Pilibhit, former MP, Begum Noor Bano- Congress (Moradabad ), her son Kazim Ali Khan alias Naved Mian–Congress (Rampur), Dharmendra Yadav - Samajwadi Party ( Badaun ), Shafiqur Rehman Barq- Samajwadi Party ( Sambhal ), Zafar Ali Naqvi-Congress ( Kheri ), Praveen Singh Aron-Congress ( Bareilly), Yaqub Qureshi–Bahujan Samaj Party (Moradabad ) and Anis Ahmed- BSP (Pilibhit).

Since the Muslims in the 11 constituencies constitute an average of 24 per cent of the total population, the political parties, particularly, the Samajwadi Party, the BSP and the Congress have spared no efforts to woo the minority community for electoral gains.

Tickets in Rampur, Moradabad, Sambhal , Amroha, Pilibhit and Aonla where the Muslims are in sizeable numbers have been given to candidates from the minority community.

For instance in Rampur, the political backyard of the SP’s Muslim face, Mohammad Azam Khan, while Kazim Ali Khan, the scion of the Rampur royal family has been fielded by the Congress, the BSP has named Akbar Hussain. Nasheed Ahmed Khan, a close confidant of Mr. Azam Khan, is the SP candidate. In the neighbouring seat of Moradabad it is going to be a three-way contest between Noor Bano (Congress), Yaqub Qureshi (BSP) and S.T. Hasan of the Samajwadi Party to garner the Muslim vote.

Tussle

In Sambhal, it will be a tussle between Shafiqur Rehman Barq of the SP and Aqil-ur-Rehman of the BSP.

In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the Samajwadi Party won four of these 11 seats, Congress, three, BJP, two and BSP and Rashtriya Lok Dal, once each.

Only two Muslims, Zafar Ali Naqvi of the Congress from Kheri and Shafiqur Rehman Barq from Sambhal on a BSP ticket