UP Minister Suresh Khanna hopes winning Shahjahanpur seat for ninth time

Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna, who is contesting assembly polls from Shahjahanpur city constituency, has expressed confidence about his and BJP's victory in the polls and said the party will give a boost to industrialisation.

Shahjahanpur district, which has six assembly segments, went to the polls on Monday. The Shahjahanpur seat is witnessing a tough fight between Khanna and SP's Tanveer Khan.

"I am sure that people will elect me for the ninth time from this constituency. This time the biggest focus will be on industrialization. The non-BJP governments in the state did not focus on attracting investments and boosting industry," he said.

Khanna said that Shahjahanpur will also benefit from the investments coming in Uttar Pradesh.

Shahjahanpur district witnessed 59.29 per cent voter turnout.

Voter turnout in Shahjahanpur city was 56.50 per cent, which is less than the last assembly polls which recorded a turnout of around 57 per cent.

Tilhar assembly seat in the district is also witnessing a close fight between BJP candidate Salona Kushwaha and SP's Roshan Lal Verma.

In Katra, BJP's Veer Vikram Singh is facing SP's Rajesh Yadav. The chances of the SP candidate winning the seat seem high as locals believe that he is a strong candidate.

From Jalalabad, Hari Prakash Verma from BJP is contesting against Neeraj Morya from Samajwadi Party. BJP's Chetram Pasi fought the polls against Upendra Pal Singh of Samajwadi from Powayan.

Samajwadi Party has given tickets from the Dadraul constituency to the son of former minister Rammurti Singh Verma, Rajesh Verma against BJP's Manvendra Singh.

Locals said that three may not be clear winners in the district with BJP having an edge on some seats while SP seen to have strong chances on others.

( With inputs from ANI )