UP polls: BJP, SP-Congress hold parallel road shows

The political battle between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance heated up an hour before the campaigning for the fourth phase of the assembly polls ended on Tuesday.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, along with incumbent Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, and BJP president Amit Shah held separate, but simultaneous, road shows here, depicting a true show of strength ahead of the polling phase.

A stage, reportedly, collapsed at Gol park where Rahul and Akhilesh were supposed to address a rally after their roadshow, halting their cavalcade for a while.

Shah had the support of BJP leader Rita Bahuguna Joshi.

53 constituencies, spread over 12 districts, including the Bundelkhand region, will go to polls in this phase on the February 23. The districts include Raebareilly, Allahabad, Pratapgarh, Kaushambi, Jhansi, Chitrakoot and Fatehpur. A total of 630 candidates, including 50 women, are in the fray.

The third phase of polling recorded 61.16 percent turnout and as the lengthy and staggered assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh crossed the halfway mark, the main parties are upbeat about forming the next government.