Brisk polling was reported amid tight security from most of the 51 constituencies in Phase 5 of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections on Monday.
Voting is on in 11 districts — Balrampur, Gonda, Faizabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Bahraich, Shravasti, Basti, Siddharth Nagar, Sant Kabir Nagar, Amethi and Sultanpur. Polling in the Alapur seat in Ambedkar Nagar was countermanded and deferred to March 8 due to the death of Samajwadi Party candidate Chandrashekhar Kanaujia.
Prominent contestants include Samajwadi Party's Gayatri Prasad Prajapat, the Congress' Amita Singh and the BJP's Garima Singh in Amethi, Lok Sabha constituency of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi.
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Here are the updates:
6.30 p.m.: 57.36 % turnout recorded in phase five of UP polls. The day-long poll process remained largely peaceful in 51 Assembly constituencies spread over 11 districts of the state.
4.49 p.m.: An estimated 52 per cent of the 1.81 crore electorate have cast their votes till 4 p.m. “Over 52 per cent polling was recorded till 4 p.m.,” officials said.
The exercise was slow in the first two hours but picked up pace gradually, with the first-time voters seen exercising their franchise quite enthusiastically.
12.00 p.m.: An estimated over 25% of voters exercised their franchise till midday amid tight security, with all eyes focused on Amethi and Faizabad. The voting was slow in the first two hours but picked up pace as the day progressed.
Ayodhya Assembly seat, which falls in Faizabad district, used to be a traditional stronghold of BJP since the Ram Temple movement days. But it was snatched by SP in 2012 and this time the saffron party is trying to wrest the seat back. - PTI
11.00 a.m.: “12-13% polling was witnessed till 10 am,” election officials said in Lucknow.
Maximum number of 4,38,106 voters are in Mehdawal (Sant Kabir Nagar), while minimum 3,04934 voters are in Tanta (Ambedkarnagar). There are 12,555 polling centres and 18,822 polling booths in this phase. The turnout in these constituencies in 2012 was 57.%.
For free and fair polls, 1,442 sector magistrates, 180 zonal magistrates and 170 static magistrates have been deployed besides police and general observers.
Gonda is close to Nepal and so are Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur and Sidhharth Nagar districts, adjacent to the Terai region in the foothills of the Himalayas.
Central forces are on high alert in these areas to ensure that no mischief monger sneaks into the Indian territory or escapes after committing any crime.- PTI
10.00 a.m.: Overall voter turnout till 9 a,m. stands at 10.28%.
Payagpur in Bahraich district races ahead with 20% turnout. — Our Correspondent Omar Rashid reports.
9.35 a.m.: People turned up early to vote in Amethi where a high-profile battle was on between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP). Despite being in alliance for the 403-seat assembly polls, both parties fielded their candidates in Amethi, a Gandhi bastion.
Amita Singh, who is the Congress candidate from Amethi, cast her vote in the first hour as polling began at 7 a.m. She told reporters that people were with her party and that she would win.
Pitted against her is SP's Gayatri Prajapati, who also cast his vote and claimed that not only would he win but also that the SP would again form the government in the state, with Akhilesh Yadav as the Chief Minister for a second term.
At many places, technical snags in the electronic voting machines (EVMs) lead to delays and disruptions in the polling process.
According to officials, these technical snags were reported from booth numbers 292 in Devipatan, Labhua (203), booth numbers 51,52 and 55 in Siddharthanagar. - IANS
8.00 a.m.: On Sunday, BSP chief Mayawati accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah of “dreaming of destroying UP”, saying the public was disenchanted with the “wrong policies” of the Centre and the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh.
7.30 a.m.: Azamgarh is the Lok Sabha constituency of Mulayam Singh. Apart from prestige, the SP’s Muslim-Yadav samikaran or equation will also be put to test.
7.00 a.m.: Amid tight security the Phase 5 polling begins in Uttar Pradesh.
(With inputs from agencies)i
