Among the prominent candidates in the fray in this phase will be BJP leader and former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh Uma Bharti from Charkhari in Mahoba, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s brother Shiv Pal Singh Yadav, who is leader of opposition in the Assembly, from Jaswant Nagar in Etawah, state Congress vice- president and former minister Ranjit Singh Judev from Garautha in Jhansi, BSP state president Swami Prasad Maurya’s daughter Sanghamitra Gautam in Aliganj in Etah district and Minister of State for Irrigation Jayveer Singh from Karhal in Mainpuri. The last date for filing nomination papers is February 4, candidates will be allowed to withdraw their nomination papers until February 8 and the polling will be held on February 23.

The 12 districts which the fifth phase would cover are Firozabad, Etah, Mainpuri, Etawah, Auraiya, Kanpur Dehat and Kanpur City, Jalaun (Orai), Jhansi, Lalitpur, Hamirpur and Mahoba. In 2007, the region had 54 seats, of which the BSP had won 27, the SP 14, BJP 7 and the Congress 4. Two Independents had also won.

The first seven districts, namely Firozabad, Etah, Mainpuri, Etawah, Auraiya, Kanpur Dehat and Kanpur, are considered to be stronghold of the Samajwadi Party, while the Congress has high hopes from AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s visits, since 2008, to Bundelkhand’s five districts, namely Jalaun, Jhansi, Lalitpur, Hamirpur and Mahoba.

In Bundelkhand, which the ruling BSP considered its favourite polling ground, the party had won 13 of the total 15 in 2007. BSP’s prominent leaders, like Rural Development Minister Daddu Prasad and party’s important coordinators Brij Lal Khabri and Ratan lal Ahirwar come from Bundelkhand.

Firozabad will be important for both the SP and the Congress. It was here that Congress MP Raj Babbar had defeated SP’s state president Akhilesh Yadav’s wife Dimple Yadav in the by-election necessitated by Akhilesh’s resignation after he won from two seats — Kannauj and Firozabad. Later, he decided to retain Kannauj and thus the by-election in Firozabad was held.

Apart from the Firozabad Lok Sabha seat, Kanpur, Jhansi, Akabarpur (Kanpur Dehat) Lok Sabha constituencies are represented by Congress MPs, namely Sriprakash Jaiswal, who is also union coal minister, Pradeep Aditya Jain, who is union minister of state for rural development, and Rajaram Pal respectively.

The Jhansi Lok Sabha seat, where a by-election was necessitated by the resignation of Pradeep Jain after his election to the Lok Sabha, was won by BSP candidate Kailash Sahu.

Former CM and BJP’s erstwhile “Hindutva face” Kalyan Singh, who has formed his own political outfit, Jan Kranti party, will test his popularity in Etah from where he is an MP. Kalyan Singh has fielded his party’s candidates on most of the seats which will go to poll in this phase.

The fifth phase is particularly important for the SP. Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav represents Mainpuri in the Lok Sabha. Besides, his native district Etawah would be going to polls in this phase.

After the last Lok Sabha elections, he had failed to get his party’s candidate elected from Etawah’s Bharthana seat, which he had vacated after his victory as MP from Mainpuri. In the by-election from Bharthana in November 2009, BSP candidate Shiv Prasad Yadav had defeated SP candidate Pradeep Yadav by a margin of no less than 16,000 votes.

Mulayam Singh further received another setback after his party’s senior leader and former Assembly Speaker Dhaniram Verma resigned as an MLA from Bindhuna seat in Auraiya district.