Lucknow, Apr 26 (IANS): Polling for the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections began on Friday in Uttar Pradesh's eight parliamentary constituencies.

The seats where polling is underway include Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Mathura and Amroha.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)- Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance will be on test in the eight Lok Sabha constituencies in West Uttar Pradesh in the second phase of the Lok Sabha election.

The BJP-RLD alliance is striving for total dominance in the region that has been its stronghold while the SP-Congress have moved in its legion of leaders and cadres to breach the saffron fort.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP won seven of these seats -- Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Bulandshahr, Aligarh and Mathura. The Bahujan Samaj Party managed to win the Amroha seat.

The BJP has fortified its position in the 2024 Lok Sabha election by allying with the RLD that wields political influence over Jats. Among the eight seats, the BJP has allotted Baghpat to the RLD.

To regain lost ground, the SP has tied up with the Congress and the alliance is working on the Muslim-OBC formula.

The SP has fielded candidates on Meerut, Baghpat, Gautam Buddha Nagar and Aligarh seats, leaving Amroha, Bulandshahr, Ghaziabad and Mathura to the Congress.

The BSP has decided to go solo and fielded upper caste, Muslim and OBC candidates on the eight seats.

The key candidates in the second phase include former Union minister Mahesh Sharma (BJP), who is seeking a third term from Gautam Buddha Nagar, 'Ramayan' fame actor Arun Govil (BJP) in Meerut, and actress Hema Malini, who is seeking a third term on the BJP ticket from Mathura.

Other key contestants include former Uttar Pradesh minister Atul Garg (BJP) in Ghaziabad, former mayor Sunita Verma (SP) in Meerut seat and sitting MP Danish Ali (Congress) in Amroha.