Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections 2022: BJP declares criminal cases against 25 UP candidates, says it was due to “political rivalry”

Last week the BJP has revealed the list of 107 candidates in Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections and out of 107 candidates the party now has also declared the 25 names of leaders who have criminal cases against them. Doing so the party said they were implicated in cases due to “political rivalry” and justified tickets to all. Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya also has four criminal cases against him, even though he is the party’s candidate from Sirathu. 

Speaking on his defense the BJP gave the reason that “He ( Keshav Prasad Maurya) is sitting MLA, Deputy CM of the state, former MP and former state president of the party. He is extremely popular not only in this constituency but across the state… further his name has been forwarded by the district unit of the party on the basis of merit, his social work, and work in the field of upliftment of the people of the state.”

However, out of 107 candidates, 63 are sitting MLAs while 20 have been dropped in the upcoming UP polls, and out of these 107 candidates, 21 are new faces in the party. Sapna Kashyap who is a worker of BJP will contest from Charthawal, while Mriganka Singh will contest from the Kairana seat. Yogi Adityanath will contest the UP assembly election from Gorakhpur, Deputy CM Kesav Prasad Maurya will contest UP Polls from Sirathu in the Prayagraj district, Atul Garg will contest from Ghaziabad.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India announced the voting dates for the Assembly polls of Uttar Pradesh. The UP will hold elections in  7 phases to elect 403 members of the Legislative Assembly in the state. The seven-phase election in Uttar Pradesh will be held on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27, and March 3 and 7.