Battle for UP: Fourth phase records 60 per cent turnout

With the completion of the fourth round of polling, 231 Assembly constituencies out of 403 in the state have been covered. The last three phases of voting will be held on February 27, March 3 and March 7.

Lucknow:The fourth phase of the seven-phase Uttar Pradesh assembly elections saw 60 per cent polling in the 59 Assembly Constituencies on Wednesday. The election commission's voter turnout app till 9.30 pm showed 59.77 per cent voting. The app has updated the turnout trend percentage after an official announcement by the state poll panel at 5 pm.

The State Election Commission releases the final voting percentage a day after the polling. With the completion of the fourth round of polling, 231 Assembly constituencies out of 403 in the state have been covered. The last three phases of voting will be held on February 27, March 3 and March 7. As many as 624 candidates were in the fray in this phase. According to the voter turnout app, Pilibhit recorded 67.59 per cent polling, Lakhimpur Kheri 65.54 per cent, Sitapur 58.39 per cent, Hardoi 58.99 per cent, Unnao 57.73 per cent, Lucknow 55.92 per cent, Rae Bareli 61.90 per cent, Banda 57.54 per cent and Fatehpur 60.07 per cent.

In 2017, 62.55 per cent polling was reported across these seats while in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls it was 60.03 per cent. Around 73.67 per cent of votes were cast till 5 pm in polling station number 266 of the Karhal Assembly segment in Mainpuri district where a repolling was ordered by the Election Commission. Polling in Karhal, where Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is in the fray against Union minister and BJP's S P Singh Baghel, was held in the third phase on February 20.

While poll panel officials claimed that voting was largely peaceful, the Samajwadi Party has alleged certain irregularities in some areas of Lucknow, Unnao, Hardoi and Sitapur and demanded action. In Lucknow, BSP president Mayawati, Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma, state minister Brijesh Pathak, and many senior officials were among the early voters.

According to the Election Commission, 2.3 crore people, including 1.14 crore men and 99.3 lakh women, were eligible to vote, for whom 24,643 polling booths and 13,817 polling centres were set up in this phase. In Lakhimpur Kheri, where eight people, including four farmers, were killed during a violence in October last year, Union Minister and BJP leader Ajay Mishra cast his vote.

His son Ashish Mishra is an accused in the case of violence and was arrested. Earlier this month, Ashish was granted bail by the Allahabad High Court, prompting families of the deceased farmers to move the Supreme Court. Ajay Mishra did not speak to the media, neither while going into the polling booth at a school in Banwaripur nor when he came out after casting his vote.

Of the 59 seats where polling was held in this phase, the BJP had won 51 in the 2017 Assembly elections, Samajwadi Party four, Bahujan Samaj Party three, and the remaining one had gone to the BJP's ally Apna Dal (Sonelal). Among the prominent candidates in this phase are Uttar Pradesh Law Minister Brijesh Pathak, Samajwadi Party national spokesperson Anurag Bhadauria, ex-SP minister Abhishek Mishra, former Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly Deputy Speaker Nitin Agarwal and Aditi Singh.

Read:Lakhimpur voting disruptions: Fevikwik poured on SP's button in Kadipur, voters names go missing in Srinagar