UP Elections: Polling For 7th Phase Ends With 60% Voter Turnout
The seventh and last phase covering 40 seats is crucial as Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi goes to polls.
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- Over 60 percent of voter turnout was recorded till 5 pm
- A 65-year-old woman died before casting her vote at Mughalsarai assembly constituency
- The Election Commission (EC) has prohibited exit polls for the UP Polls till 5:30 pm on 9 March
- A total of 1.41 crore voters, including 64.76 lakh women, are eligible to exercise their franchise in 14,458 polling booths
- The voters list includes around 65 lakh female voters and 706 from the third gender
Over 60 percent of the 1.41 crore voters exercised their franchise in the seventh and last phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls in 40 seats, bringing down the curtain on a gruelling two-month-long process.
"60.03 percent votes were polled till 5 pm," Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer T Venkatesh said.
The turnout for these seats was 57.92 percent in the last Assembly polls in 2012.
The counting of votes in UP will be taken up on 11 March, along with four other states – Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur, where Assembly polls were held.
Around 56 Percent Voting Recorded Till 4 PM in UP Phase-VII Polls
Around 56 percent of the voters exercised their franchise till 4 pm in the seventh and last phase of Uttar Pradesh elections.
All eyes are on the Assembly segments in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi.
Assembly constituencies in Varanasi saw 45 percent polling while the Naxal-hit Mirzapur had 47.50 percent polling till 4 pm, it said.
Polling for Alapur Seat in UP on Thursday
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 15 February in the second phase of the seven-phased state Assembly elections.
According to the law, if a candidate of a recognised party dies, the poll is countermanded and the party is given time to field a new candidate and the polling fixed for another date.
Besides, there are nine candidates, including those from BJP and BSP, fighting from the seat.
The Election Commission has postponed telecast of exit polls till 5:30 pm on Thursday.
Farmers Boycott Elections at Chunar
Farmers boycott the elections at polling booth number 283 of the Chunar assembly alleging lack of irrigation facilities and development.
In their pamphlets they wrote:
Murli Manohar Joshi Casts Vote
BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi casts his vote at booth number 76 of Varanasi North.
Special Arrangements for Women
Special arrangements were made for women at polling booth no 394 in Aurai (Bhadohi).
Aged Woman Dies Before Casting Vote
A 65-year old woman died before casting her vote at polling booth number 357 of Mughalsarai assembly constituency.
Apna Dal Anupriya Patel Confident of Winning All 40 Seats
Apna Dal leader and Union Minister Anupriya Patel cast her vote at Mirzapur. After voting she confidently said:
'Voting Against Jumlebaazi'
Congress leader Ajai Rai casts his vote at polling booth no. 389 of Varanasi South. He said:
Voting Begins at Chandauli
After an hour of dealing with a technical glitch in two booths, voting has begun at in Chandauli in Sakaldiha constituency.
All Eyes on Varanasi
People started queueing up outside polling booths at Varanasi where BJP’s Ravindra Jaiswal and BSP’s Sujit Kumar Maurya is contesting from.
Varanasi has been the much sought after constituency, since PM Modi contested from this constituency during the General Election.
EC Postpones Exit Polls to 5:30 pm on 9 March
The Election Commission (EC) has prohibited exit polls for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections till 5:30 pm on 9 March following the death of the Samajwadi Party candidate for the Alapur seat, in the wake of which polling, originally scheduled for 27 February, has been pushed back to Thursday, an official said.
Mirzapur Booth Faces Technical Disruptions
A polling booth at Mirzapur faced technical glitches, due to which people couldn’t cast their votes.
People started casting their votes at the Mohammadabad constituency where BSP candidate Shibakatullah is contesting from.
Voters Queue Up to Vote
Voters queue up at polling booths 176,177,178 in Mirzapur to cast their vote in the last phase of Uttar Pradesh elections.
Ahead of Seventh Phase, a Suspected Terror Attack
Less than 24 hours before the final phase, an encounter between the anti-terrorist squad (ATS) and a suspected ISIS terrorist took place in Thakurganj area of Lucknow.
Big Names in the Fray
The BJP is contesting 32 seats and its allies the Apana Dal and the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party are contesting on four seats each. 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.
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.
1.41 Crore Voters to Decide Fate of 535 Candidates
The stage is set for the grand finale to the staggered UP Assembly polls as the seventh and the last phase covering 40 seats will be held today, with all eyes on the Prime Minister’s Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi.
A total of 1.41 crore voters, including 64.76 lakh women, are eligible to exercise their franchise in 14,458 polling booths. A total 1.4 crore people will vote for 535 candidates. This includes around 65 lakh female voters and 706 from the third gender.
Assets of Re-Contesting MLAs in UP Soar 82% in 5 years: ADR
The average assets of 311 MLAs recontesting in Uttar Pradesh went up by Rs 2.84 crore – roughly an increase of 82 percent – in the last five years, says a report.
The average assets of the 311 re-contesting MLAs from various parties in 2012 was Rs 3.49 crore (Rs 3,49,08,073) while this year, it stood at Rs 6.33 crore (Rs 6,33,64,781), a report by think-tank Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said on Tuesday.
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