A high-pitched battle between two female gladiators has brought Lucknow Cantonment in the limelight like never before.Samajwadi chhoti bahu Aparna Yadav is challenging sitting MLA Rita Bahuguna fielded by the BJP. In 2012, Rita won the seat contesting on a Congress ticket.

Of the 13 cantonment assembly seats in the country, six are in Uttar Pradesh.Apart from capital Lucknow, Meerut, Kanpur, Agra, Bareilly and Varanasi have a cantonment seat.

Going by election results since 1991, voters in most cantonment assembly seats have shown a preference towards BJP. However, in the 2007 assembly elections, BSP won Agra Cantt and Bareilly Cantt seats while BJP was able to capture the cantonment assembly seats of Lucknow, Varanasi, Kanpur and Meerut.

In the 2012 assembly polls, the BJP bastion of Lucknow Cantonment fell to the Congress, with Rita Bahuguna Joshi defeating three-time winner and sitting MLA Suresh Chandra Tiwari. Agra Cantt (SC) witnessed a BSP hat-trick, while Bareilly Cantt saw the advent of BJP for the first time.

However, the BJP continued its dominance in Meerut Cantt, winning it for the sixth time. Kanpur Cantt chose the party for the fifth time while Varanasi Cantt won it for the sixth time.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Lucknow News / by Arunav Sinha / TNN / February 19th, 2017