BJP's Pankaj Singh considers himself to be bigger than the Defence Minister: BSP candidate Kriparam Sharma

Ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Kriparam Sharma took a dig at state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Pankaj Singh saying that it was a coincidence that he won last time but now people are with the BSP.

BSP candidate Sharma said, "It was a coincidence that Pankaj Singh won with a huge margin last time. Singh who considers himself bigger than the Defence Minister has disappointed the people. The public in Noida is upset with him."

Sharma who is a BSP candidate from Noida in the upcoming UP election said, "There are 1,10,000 Dalits and 2.5 lakh Brahmin voters in Noida. Caste is a big factor. Brahmins and Muslim voters are with me. They have made their mind to support BSP. I will definitely win."

"Singh was not seen anywhere in five years. People in Noida are upset with him," he said.

Earlier on January 19, BSP released the names of the candidates for the first phase of Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.

The party had released the first list of candidates on 53 assembly seats of Uttar Pradesh for the upcoming polls last week.

Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh will be conducted in seven phases starting on February 10. The second phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections will be on February 14, the third phase on February 20, the fourth phase on February 23, 5th phase on February 27, 6th phase on March 3 and 7th and the last phase will be conducted on March 7.

The counting of votes for 403 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, 117 in Punjab, 70 in Uttarakhand 60 in Manipur and 40 in Goa will be done on March 10.

(ANI)