Notification for the same will be issued tomorrow and the filing of nominations will continue till January 27. Withdrawal of candidature could be done till February 1 and polling will be on February 15.
The state will have seven-phase polling between February 11 and March 8.
The districts going to polls in the second phase are Saharanpur, Bijnor, Moradabad, Sambhal, Rampur, Bareilly, Amroha, Pilibhit, Kheri, Shahjahanpur and Badaun.
Over 2.28 crore voters, including 1.04 women, will exercise their franchise their votes.
Also Read
Among 12 reserved seats in this phase, SP had won nine and BSP secured three in 2012. BJP could not open its account on these seats.
The Muslim-dominated areas will also be an acid test for
BSP chief Mayawati, who is banking heavily on Dalit-Muslim vote bank, in the region which was once its favourite hunting ground.
This time, BSP is relying on Muslim support by giving them maximum 97 tickets (out of 403) and the poll outcome will reflect as to what extent Mayawati has been able to keep her Dalit support base intact amid intense wooing by BJP and also to what extent she can garner Muslim support compared to last time.
The turnout of voters, especially minorities, in this phase could give an inkling of the mood of Muslims and determine if the overall contest will be between BJP and SP or BJP and BSP or whether it will be a three-way fight.
The first phase of polling in Muslim-dominated region on February 11 could also give bring out the impact of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) led by Asaduddin Owaisi.