Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath  |  Photo Credit: PTI
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will contest the upcoming polls in the state from his home turf Gorakhpur, BJP’s state poll in-charge and Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced on Saturday as he released the party’s first list of candidates.
Pradhan released the list of 57 out of 58 candidates for the first phase of the elections and 38 out of 55 for the second phase. He also announced that Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya will contest from Sirathu in Prayagraj district.
The Uttar Pradesh CM, who is also the head priest of the Goraknath Math, has represented the Gorakhpur constituency in Lok Sabha multiple times till 2017.
Earlier, speculations were rife that the BJP leader, who is a key Hindutva face of the party, would ditch his bastion Gorakhpur and fight the next month’s elections from either one of the temple towns of Ayodhya or Mathura.
Adityanath’s nomination from Ayodhya, sources had said, would have ticked many boxes as the ongoing construction of the Ram temple has bolstered its political profile for the BJP.
Adityanath, currently a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council, had recently said that he is willing to contest the Assembly polls from wherever the party leadership decides.
The BJP firebrand leader, a five-time MP from Gorakhpur, has never contested an Assembly election before.
Elections will be held in Uttar Pradesh in seven phases from February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27, March 3 and 7 and the results for the 403-member Assembly will be declared on March 10.
Polling for the Gorakhpur (Urban) seat will be held on March 3 – the sixth phase.