New Delhi: Polling in 40 Uttar Pradesh assembly seats spread across seven districts in the seventh and final phase is in progress on Wednesday with all eyes on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi.
Prominent candidates who are in fray include former Cabinet minister Om Prakash, Parasnath Yadav, Ajay Rai, former MP Dhananjay Singh, Sigbatullah Ansari brother of Mukhtar Ansari and Seema Singh wife of jailed mafia Munna Bajrangi.
Three Naxal-affected districts of Sonbhadra, Mirzapur and Chandauli, along with the five assembly segments under Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency, will be in prime focus. Ghazipur, Jaunpur and Bhadoi are the other districts where polling is going on in this phase.
The last phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh assembly elections is in progress and will end at 5pm. Here are the latest updates and developments:
■ 6.30pm: 60.03% turnout in seventh and last phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls: CEO T Venkatesh. (PTI)
■ 4.15pm: Around 56% polling recorded till 4pm. (CNN-News18) The Election Commission has postponed telecast of exit polls till 5.30pm tomorrow. (PTI)
■ 3.35pm: Over 51% voter turn out recorded till 3pm. (CNN-News18)
■ 3.00pm: All preparations have been completed for polling in Alapur constituency in Ambedkar Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday. The voting for this reserved constituency had been postponed after SP candidate Chandrashekhar Kanaujia died of heart attack while campaigning in Ambedkar Nagar on 12 February.
The polling in the constituency was to be held on February 15. Alapur seat is currently held by Bhim Prasad Sonkar of SP, but he was not fielded by the party this time. After the death of 40-year-old Kanaujia, the ruling Samajwadi Party has fielded his widow Sangita Chaudhary. Besides, there are nine candidates, including those from BJP and BSP, fighting from the seat.
■ 2.30pm: Over 41% votes were polled till 2pm. PM’s constituency saw 37.88% polling, while naxal infested Mirzapur had 42.50% polling till 2pm, it said. (PTI)
■ 12.30am: Over 26% votes were polled till 12pm for the seventh and last phase of Uttar Pradesh elections. (PTI)
■ 11.45am: Voter turnout recorded at 24.22% at 11am in Uttar Pradesh assembly elections’ last phase of voting.
■ 11.15am: Over 13% votes were polled in the first three hours of the seventh and last phase of Uttar Pradesh elections in 40 assembly seats spread over seven districts.
“Over 13% votes were polled till 10am. The polling is going on peacefully,” office of UP Chief Electoral Officer said in Lucknow. (PTI)
■ 11.00am: People at booth 99 in Mirzapur boycotted voting complaining there was no development in their area, reported CNN-News18.
■ 10.30am: Prominent leaders who have cast their vote in this phase of polling include—BJP’s Murli Manohar Joshi, Congress leader Ajai Rai, Anupriya Patel of Apna Dal.
■ 10.00am: 10.43% voting recorded till 9am in the seventh phase of Uttar Pradesh elections 2017. Polling began for the seventh and final phase of Uttar Pradesh elections at 7am. Here are some key facts related to this phase of voting:
— Tight security has been put in place in these seven districts. Polling will be held between 7am to 5pm in all constituencies, except the Naxal-hit Duddhi, Robertsganj and Chakia seats, where polling will end at 4pm.
— Counting of votes polled in all the seven phases of the assembly polls will be taken up on 11 March. The BJP is contesting 32 seats and its allies—the Apana Dal and the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party—are contesting on 4 seats each.
— A total of 1.41 crore voters, including 64.76 lakh women, are eligible to exercise their franchise in 14,458 polling booths and 8,682 polling centres to decide fate of 585 candidates, including 51 women.
— The BSP has fielded its nominees for all seats. While the SP is contesting 31 seats, its ally the Congress is in race for the remaining seats. In the 2012 state Assembly polls, out of these 40 seats, 23 went to the SP, 5 to the BSP, 4 to the BJP, 3 to the Congress and 5 to others.
— In all, 535 candidates, including BSP (40), BJP (32), SP (31), Congress (9), RLD 21, and NCP (5) are in the fray. While the maximum number of 24 candidates are from Varanasi Cantt seat, the minimum number of 6 candidates are contesting from Kerakat (SC). The turnout on these seats in 2012 was 57.92% in 2012 assembly polls.
