Lakhimpur Kheri district has caught national attention after the October 2021 violence where eight people, including four farmers, were killed during the farmers' protest.

The district falls under the Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh, which is considered a fortress of the BJP and chief minister Yogi Adityanath. In the 2017 assembly polls, BJP swept all eight constituencies in the district. Voting is underway in the Lakhimpur Kheri district on Wednesday, February 23, along with 52 other assembly segments in the fourth phase of the seven-phase election in the state.

Senior journalists and prominent persons from the Lakhimpur Kheri district observe that the kind of "lehar (wave)" that was witnessed in favour of BJP in the 2017 assembly elections is clearly absent this time around. They say people will vote on the issues of price rise, unemployment, functioning of public health systems during COVID, education and other livelihood issues this time.

To know the pulse of voters in Lakhimpur Kheri and to understand the issues that concern them the most, The Wire's Arfa Khanum Sherwani was in the district recently. Watch the full video to know more.

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