Battleground UP: Fragmented opposition gives BJP an edge

Lucknow: A thoroughly fragmented opposition in Uttar Pradesh seems to be giving a definite advantage to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state.
The multi-cornered contest that seems inevitable in almost all constituencies will help the BJP and also overcome the anti-incumbency factor to a large extent.
To begin with, the SP-BSP-RLD alliance is contesting all 78 of the 80 seats, leaving Amethi and Rae Bareli as a goodwill gesture for the Congress.
But the Congress is contesting 73 seats, leaving seven seats for the Samajwadi clan and the Rashtriya Lok Dal leaders.
The seats left by the Congress include Mainpuri, Ferozabad, Kannauj, Badaun, Azamgarh, Baghpat and Muzaffarnagar.
Shivpal Singh Yadav’s Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (PSP) is making the contest four-cornered by putting up candidates on all 80 seats.