Ayodhya/Gorakhpur: As Uttar Pradesh votes tomorrow to decide the fate of 692 candidates in 61 constituencies in Phase-V, unemployment is among the key electoral issues, say observers.
692 candidates
61 constituencies
The districts going to the polls on Sunday include Sultanpur, Chitrakoot, Pratapgarh, Kaushambi, Prayagraj, Barabanki, Bahraich, Shravasti, Gonda, Amethi (once a Congress bastion) and Ayodhya.
Canvassing ends, Manipur votes tomorrow
Imphal: The months-long campaign for the first phase of Manipur elections came to an end on Saturday as the voting in the state will be held on Monday for 38 of the 60 seats. PTI
Constituencies that go to polls in Phase-V include Allahabad, now Prayagraj, and its neighbouring townships where lakhs of students from backward districts of Purvanchal study in coaching centres to fulfil their aspiration of bagging a government job.
CM Yogi Adityanath’s bastion Gorakhpur, which votes in Phase-VI, is the only major centre in the region for educational and medical facilities.
It plays host to thousands of youngsters from Purvanchal who study in B Ed and BTC colleges. There are several coaching centres in Gorakhpur, promising a bright future.
According to Anand Rai, a political observer in Gorakhpur, most of the students belong to the lower middle class or middle-class families who cannot afford to send their children to expensive medical or engineering coaching centres and colleges, or big cities, and for whom getting a job is the priority in life.
“They are angry. It is manifested in several memes regarding paper leak, allegations of irregularities in recruitment and lathicharge on job-seekers,” he says.
“Local issues have taken a backseat and issues such as employment, inflation, stray cattle and old pension scheme have taken precedence. Samajwadi Party’s promise to restore the old pension scheme if voted to power is drawing traction from UP Government employees,” he adds.
Be it the ruling party or the Opposition, employment has been the focal point during campaigning of all political outfits. Countering the Opposition’s criticism, Adityanath has been claiming that his government provided more jobs than the two previous dispensations.
Throughout his campaign, SP’s Akhilesh Yadav has been urging people to defeat the BJP which, he said, “increased corruption and snatched jobs of youth”. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, too, has been hitting out at Adityanath on the issue while accusing the Centre of “destroying trade and businesses with ill-conceived policies”.