shahjahanpur ask locals in shahjahanpur what the district is famous for and they are quick to respond their first answer names of freedom fighters ram prasad bismil and ashfaqullah khan is not surprising the second however gives rise to much mirth grudgingly though local say the district has shot to fame as a result of the histrionics mayawatis former minister awadesh kumar verma indulged in he cried in front of the waiting cameras apologising to behenji the day she gave him the boot that is shahjahanpurs or dadrauls new identity said vijay kumar a trader in shahjahanpur city its hard to tell where local sympathies lie but verma will have to do some heavy explaining first for crying to mayawati and then promptly switching loyalties to the bjp in shahjahanpur a tough battle is also on the cards for mayawati on saturday she will defend four of the six assembly seats her party won in 2007 after showing the door to verma in dadraul bsp has fielded 46yearold rizwan ali hoping to woo the 50 muslim voters in the constituency congresss kaushal kumar mishra will be in the fray as well attempting to win the party its first seat in the district also contesting the dadraul seat is samajwadi candidate ram murti singh verma who many say will have a relatively easy outing considering the assembly seat falls in sp mp mithileshs pocket borough victories recorded in the 2009 lok sabha elections however may not have a bearing on assembly elections in the region local poll gimmicks on the other hand could in shahjahanpur city for instance sitting bjp mla suresh khanna has been winning the seat constantly since 1989 this year apart from promising the city better infrastructure and roads khanna is gifting the people a giant 105feet statue of lord hanuman as a prepoll gift the statue near completion locals say is likely to go a long way in wooing the hindu votes in the region samajwadi party candidate in the shahjahanpur assembly seat however is treading familiar ground when it comes to political wooing though his chances of uprooting khanna may not be high he is expected to put up a fighthaving won over many hindu families as well as a result of a concerted mass contact programme apparently the longest any candidate has done in this region since the elections were notified shahjahanpurs reserved powayan constituency is the other one that will pose as crucial battle between political archrivals bsp and sp in 2007 the seat was won by sps mithilesh the party however went on to lose to bsps dhirendra prasad during the november 2009 byeelections after mithilesh vacated the seat and won the shahjahanpur lok sabha elections this year though bsp played the caste card again fielding arun sagar as the partys candidate from the region rajveer singh of the bjp and shakuntala devi from samajwadi party however are likely to make this a tough battle of ballots delimitation of the assembly