As Uttar Pradesh has witnessed two out of the seven-phased 2017 Assembly elections so far, fate of 270 candidates are in the fray and will be announced on March 11. All leading parties like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) etc. are affirmative about forming government with majority in the state. Spread over 11 districts of the western UP, round two of Assembly polls took place amid tight security arrangements on February 15 in places like Saharanpur, Bijnor, Moradabad, Sambhal, Rampur, Bareilly, Amroha, Pilibhit, Kheri, Shahjahanpur and Badaun. The ongoing polls will surely be a mid-term test for Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government as it will show whether the demonetisation move was accepted by the people or not. UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav-led SP has put a lot on stake to retain the power. During the 2012 Assembly polls, SP bagged 34 seats out of the 67 constituencies of the western UP. The incumbent CM has been loudly attacking PM Modi and has even said that the downfall of those who had ‘befooled’ the people promising ‘achche din’ has started. SP is largely banking upon development agenda with CM’s ‘Kaam Bolta Hai’ campaign, but PM Modi, too, had been critical about Akhilesh and blamed him for the failure of law and order in the state.
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Apart from the SP-BJP tussle, Mayawati-led BSP chief Mayawati has made it a high-octane three way contest. She has been wooing voters with her back to back rallies across the state. Mayawati had blamed both SP and BJP on the issues of development and demonetisation respectively. After sitting in opposition for over 5 years, BSP has claimed that it will regain power in the state with full majority.
Kunda is constituency No. 246 of Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly. It is situated in Kunda district and comes under the Kaushambi Lok Sabha constituency. It is an open constituency.
Number of voters
As per the Election Commission data, Kunda has 3,15,457 registered electorates out of which 1,73,180 are male and 1,42,269 are female voters. 8 voters of this constituency belong to Others category.
What are the key issues
Kunda is one of those rare constituencies of the state, where development has happened on a rapid level. From electricity to basic amenities to infrastructure, the region is far better compared to many tier I and II regions of Uttar Pradesh.
Who was the winner last time
During the 2012 Assembly elections, an Independent candidate Raghuraj Pratap Singh won this constituency by a whopping margin of 88,255 votes followed by Shiv Prakash Mishra from BSP. Also known as ‘Raja Bhaiyya’, Singh got as many as 1,11,392 votes. He has managed to retain the Kunda Assembly seat for about five consecutive terms since 1993.
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Who are the competing candidates
Parvez Akhtar Ansari (BSP), Janki Prasad Pandey (BJP), Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya (IND).
Why this constituency is important?
Kunda is one of the most unique constituencies of UP as the sitting MLA Raghuraj Pratap Singh aka Raja Bhaiya has maintained a winning streak with the highest margin of votes straight for 25 years. With around 65 per cent OBC/SC/Muslim voters, the people of this constituency has voted for Raja Bhaiya for the past 25 years. SP has not fielded any candidate from this region and Singh is a minister in CM Akhilesh Yadav’s cabinet.
